This dead of midnight is the noon of thought,
And Wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.
At this still hour the self-collected soul
Turns inward, and beholds a stranger there
Of high descent, and more than mortal rank;
An embryo God; a spark of fire divine.
Bio: Robert Whittington was an English grammarian. He was a pupil at Magdalen College School, Oxford, where he probably studied under the grammarian John Stanbridge.
