Toss prickly burs, for their unthinking mates
To catch, by moonlight, in the autumnal woods;
Talk of creation, or the Chinese wall,
Wander o’er Athen’s hill or sumac knoll,
Drink at Castalia’s fount or Jasper’s Spring,
And he is there to answer and confound.
Nature’s philosopher! untaught by schools,
Who knows, and can explain in one short hour,
More than the wide world knew in Plato’s day.
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