Read it through once

So Nature's off-spring, gently nurtur'd, stands A moment on the crumbling verge of earth, And looks with doubtful gaze on those bright hands Which at one beck would give it death or birth: We smile, we pause, we tremble, and begin Our being with a hope and with a fear; Such was that smile,—a trembling, faint within, As if a joy had just been born to tear.