That nothing walks with aimless feet;
    That not one life shall be destroy’d,
    Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete;

That not a worm is cloven in vain;
    That not a moth with vain desire
    Is shrivell’d in a fruitless fire,
Or but subserves another’s gain.

Behold, we know not anything;
    I can but trust that good shall fall
    At last–far off–at last, to all,
And every winter change to spring.

So runs my dream: but what am I?
    An infant crying in the night:
    An infant crying for the light:
And with no language but a cry.