“Man's little acts are grand...”
by Henry D. Thoreau

Man’s little acts are grand,
Beheld from land to land,
There as they lie in time,
Within their native clime.
            Ships with the noontide weigh,
            And glide before its ray
            To some retired bay,
            Their haunt,
            Whence, under tropic sun,
            Again they run,
            Bearing gum Senegal and Tragicant.
For this was ocean meant,
For this the sun was sent,
And moon was lent,
And winds in distant caverns pent.

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A Note on the Text:

• Source: Collected Poems of Henry Thoreau edited by Carl Bode (Chicago Packard and Co., 1943) p. 57.

• Title from first line

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