Happy Birthday Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Not only is today Back To The Future Day, it is also the birthday of one of literature's most influential poets: Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  He is most known for his epic poem "Rime of The Ancient Mariner," which is one of my favorite poems.  So in honor of his birthday, I will share another one of my favorite poems by Coleridge:  To Nature.

To Nature

It may indeed be fantasy when I
Essay to draw from all created things
Deep, heartfelt, inward joy that closely clings;
And trace in leaves and flowers that round me lie
Lessons of love and earnest piety.
So let it be; and if the wide world rings
In mock of this belief, it brings
Nor fear, nor grief, nor vain perplexity.
So will I build my altar in the fields,
And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be,
And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields
Shall be the incense I will yield to Thee,
Thee only God! and thou shalt not despise
Even me, the priest of this poor sacrifice.