Primeval Man
Bk. V. vv. 781-1159
In the beginning Earth at her own will
Spread a verdant glitter on plain and hill.
Flowery meadows shone, gay, birthday sheen,
Many-coloured embroidery of green.
Meanwhile fresh germs were nursing strength beyond
The modest grass that carpeted the ground.
In them all a strange, a wild yearning woke
To taste upper air; from the soil trees broke.