You, free thinker, imagine only man
Thinks in this world where life bursts from all things?
The powers within prescribe your freedom’s wings,
But you leave the universe outside your plans.
Respect the mind that stirs in every creature:
Love’s mystery is known by metals too;
Every flower opens its soul to Nature;
“Everything’s sentient!” and works on you.
Beware! from the blind wall one watches you:
Even matter has a logos all its own . . .
Do not put it to some impious use.
Often in humble life a god works, hidden;
And like a new-born eye veiled by its lids,
Pure spirit grows beneath the surface of stones.
— Gerard de Nerval