A boy was born 'mid little things,
between a little world and sky-
and dreamed not of the cosmic rings
'round which the circling planets fly.
he lived in little works and thoughts,
where little ventures grow and plod,
and paced and plowed his little plots,
and prayed unto his little god.
but as the mighty system grew,
his faith grew faint with many scars;
the cosmos widened in his view-
but god was lost among his stars.
another boy in lowly days,
as he, to little things was born,
but gathered lore in woodland ways,
and from the glory of the morn.
as wider skies broke on his view,
god greatened in his growing mind;
each year he dreamed his god anew,
and left his older god behind.
he saw the boundless scheme dilate,
in star and blossom, sky and clod;
and as the universe grew great,
he dreamed it for a greater god.