Microcosm

His home a speck in a vast Universe,
He a mere atom on that tiny speck,
Victim of countless evils that coerce
And force him onward on a pathless track:
And yet a being made to dominate
O'er all things else by mind's controlling power:
Spoilt favourite at once and sport of fate,
Football of fortune, time's consummate flower!

To him alone did Nature's self impart
A spark of her divinest energy,
With power to create a world of Art,
And intellect to solve all mystery:
So great arid yet so little! blest and curst —
Nature's most noble offspring — yet her worst!