And traveled through the wood, with no one near
To whom he might confess the things he saw.
So the foundations of his mind were laid.
In such communion, not from terror free,
While yet a child, and long before his time,
He had perceived the presence and the power
Of greatness."
"He had received a precious gift," the poet tells us, that gift of spiritual perception which the poet himself tells he also has received.
"Thus informed,
He had small need of books: