An idle poet, here and there,

Looks round him, but, for all the rest,

The world, unfathomably fair,

Is duller than a witling's jest.

Love wakes men, once a lifetime each;

They lift their heavy lids, and look;

And, lo, what one sweet page can teach,

They read with joy, then shut the book.

And give some thanks, and some blaspheme,

And most forget, but, either way,

That and the child's unheeded dream

Is all the light of all their day.

                                   Coventry Patmore