A coy inquisitive spirit, the spirit of wonder,
Possesses the child in his cradle, when mortal things
Are new, yet a varied surface and nothing under.
It busies the mind on trifles and toys and brings
Her grasp from nearer to further, from smaller to greater,
And slowly teaches flight to her fledgeling wings.
Where’er she flutters and falls surprises await her:
She soars, and beauty’s miracles open in sight,
The flowers and trees and beasts of the earth; and later 820
The skies of day, the moon and the stars of night;