He watched the making of a coral islet, compared with which men’s work seemed nothing. A comparison which set him thinking of the grandeurs of earth, among them of Babylon, built for eternity, though where it stood,
Ruin itself stands still for lack of work,
And Desolation keeps unbroken Sabbath....
He saw the islet grow and become hospitable. The sea-wrack and many sea-changed things were swept up on to it,
While heaven’s dew
Fell on the sterile wilderness as sweetly
As though it were the garden of the Lord.
Grass grew. Insects swarmed. He witnessed “the age of gold in that green isle.” Trees and flowers rose up. Reptiles and amphibious monsters appeared. Then came “more admirable” beings:—
Flocking from every point of heaven, and filling