The Poetical Works of George MacDonald (Parables)
Home - George MacDonald - The Poetical Works of George MacDonald (Parables)I.
There breathes not a breath of the summer air But the spirit of love is moving there; Not a trembling leaf on the shadowy tree, Flutters with hundreds in harmony, But that spirit can part its tone from the rest, And read the life in its beetle's breast. When the sunshiny butterflies come and go, Like flowers paying visits to and fro, Not a single wave of their fanning wings Is unfelt by the spirit that feeleth all things. The long-mantled moths that sleep at noon And rove in the light of the gentler moon; And the myriad gnats that dance like a wall, Or a moving column that will not fall; And the dragon-flies that go burning by, Shot like a glance from a seeking eye-- There is one being that loves them all: Not a fly in a spider's web can fall But he cares for the spider, and cares for the fly; He cares for you, whether you laugh or cry, Cares whether your mother smile or sigh. How he cares for so many, I do not know, But it would be too strange if he did not so-- Dreadful and dreary for even a fly: So I cannot wait for the how and why, But believe that all things are gathered and nursed In the love of him whose love went first And made this world--like a huge great nest For a hen to sit on with feathery breast.