To Shakspeare

The soul of man is larger than the sky,
Deeper than ocean —or the abysmal dark
Of the unfathom’d centre. Like that Ark,
Which in its sacred hold uplifted high,
O’er the drown’d hills, the human family,
And stock reserved of every living kind,
So, in the compass of a single mind,
The seed and pregnant forms in essence lie,
That make all worlds. Great Poet ’twas thy art,
To know thyself, and in thyself to be
Whate’er love, hate, ambition, destiny,
Or the firm, fatal purpose of the heart,
Can make of Man. Yet thou wert still the same,
Serene of thought, unhurt by thy own flame.