And all thy embryo vastness, at a gulp.

But Fate thy growth decreed; autumnal rains

Beneath thy parent tree mellow’d the soil

Design’d thy cradle; and a skipping deer,

With pointed hoof, nibbling the glebe, prepar’d

The soft receptacle, in which, secure,

Thy rudiments should sleep the winter through.

So Fancy dreams. Disprove it if ye can

Ye reas’ners broad awake, whose busy search

Of argument employ’d too oft amiss,