Sonnet XVII
The Microscope
THE small enlarged, the distant nearer brought
To sight, made marvels in a denser age.
But Science turns with every year a page
In the enchanted volume of her thought.
The wizard’s wand no longer now is sought.
Yet with a cunning toy the Archimage
May hear from Rome Vesuvius’ thunders rage,
And earthquake mutterings underground are caught,
Alike with trivial sounds. Would there might rise
Some spiritual seer, some prophet wise,
Whose tactile vision would avert the woes
Born of conflicting forces in the state;—
Some listener to the deep volcanic throes
Below the surface—ere we cry, ‘Too late!’
