William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
The WormThomas Gisborne (17581846)
T
Nor crush that helpless worm!
The frame thy scornful looks deride
Requir’d a God to form.
From whom thy being flow’d,
A portion of His boundless love
On that poor worm bestow’d.
To all His creatures free:
And spreads o’er earth the grassy blade
For worms as well as thee.
Their lowly bliss receive;
O do not lightly take away
The life thou canst not give!