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: Étienne-Gabriel Morelly was a French utopian thinker and novelist. An otherwise obscure tax official, Morelly wrote two books on education and a critique of Montesquieu.
