INVESTIGATION OF INSECTS. 573 



Th' Invisible in things scarce seen reveal'd, 



To whom an atom is an ample field : 



To wonder at a thousand insect forms, 



These hatch'd, and those resuscitated worms, 



New life ordain'd and brighter scenes to share, 



Once prone on earth, now buoyant upon air, 



Whose shape would make them, had they bulk and size, 



More hideous foes than fancy can devise ; 



With helmet-heads and dragon-scales adorn'd, 



The mighty myriads, now securely scorn'd, 



Would mock the majesty of man's high birth, 



Despise his bulwarks, and unpeople earth : 



Then with a glance of fancy to survey, 



Far as the faculty can stretch away, 



Ten thousand rivers pour'd at his command 



From urns that never fail through every land ; 



These like a deluge with impetuous force, 



Those winding modestly a silent course ; 



The cloud-surmounting alps, the fruitful vales; 



Seas on which every nation spreads her sails; 



The sun, a world whence other worlds drink light; 



The crescent moon, the diadem of night ; 



Stars countless, each in his appointed place, 



Fast anchor' d in the deep abyss of space : 



At such a sight to catch the poet's flame, 



And with a rapture like his own exclaim, 



These are thy glorious works, thou source of good I 



How dimly seen, how faintly understood ] 



Thine, and upheld by thy paternal care, 



This universal frame, thus wondrous fair; 



Thy power divine, and bounty beyond thought, 



Aflored and praised in all that thou hast wrought. 



Absorb' d in that immensity I see, 



I shrink abas'd, and yet aspire to thee ; 



Instruct me, guide me to that heavenly day, 



Thy words, more clearly than thy works, display, 



That, while thy truths my grosser thoughts refine, 



I may resemble thee, and call thee mine. a " 



a Cowper's Retirement. 



