Turn, turn, thy hasty foot aside
Nor crush that helpless worm;
The frame thy wayward looks deride,
Required a God to form.
The common Lord of all that move,
From whom thy being flowed,
A portion of his boundless love
On that poor worm bestowed.
The sun, the moon, the stars, he made
To all his creatures free;
And spread o'er earth the grassy blade
For worms as well as thee.
Let them enjoy their little day,
Their lowly hiss receive;
Oh! do not lightly take away
The life thou canst not give.
Here we may remark, that much wanton cruelty has been abolished by the
extended education of the people. Brutal sports among boys are much
less indulged than formerly, and the worrying of domestic animals
almost invariably denotes a _bad boy_, in the worst sense of the
phrase, likely to make a bad man; "so true to nature is the admirable
aphorism of Wordsworth:--