A TRANSCENDENTAL RES[PITE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

NATURE

As a fond mother, when the day is o’er,
Leads by the hand her little child to bed,
Half willing, half reluctant to be led,
And leave his broken playthings on the floor,
Still gazing at them through the open door,
Nor wholly reassured and comforted
By promises of others in their stead,
Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;
So nature deals with us, and takes away
Our playthings one by one, and by the hand
Lead us to rest so gently, that we go
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,
Being too full of sleep to understand
How far the unknown transcends the what we know.

Abba abba cde cde rhyme in 14 line iambic pentameter sonnet expressing a transcendental feeling and thought. Transcendentalism was a New England movement as represented ;by Emerson, Longfellow and others characterized by the exaltation of the spiritual in a general sense over the material, and the immanence of the divine in all creation.