A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields/Sonnet (Gérard de Nerval)

For works with similar titles, see Sonnet.

SONNET.


GÉRARD DE NERVAL.


Eh quoi! tout est sensible!Pythagore.


Believest thou thyself the sole thinker, O man,
In a world full of life? Thine is thy force,
Thou hast free will, and open is thy course,
But not for thee to grasp the general plan!
In air, i' the flower, in the dull metal scan
A soul untainted, and without remorse,
Of love a centre, holy as its source,
All sentiment—all—thou only in the van!
Hush! In the blind wall faces are that peer!
Matter is hallowed and stamped with the Word,
To use it for impious purposes, fear!
A God dwells in all unseen and unheard,
Like an embryo eye, a blossom unblown,
A spirit exists unperceived in the stone.