Each moss,
Each shell, each drawling insect, holds a rank
Important in the plan of Him who fram'd
This scale of beings; holds a rank which, lost
Would break the chain, and leave behind a gap
Which Nature's self would rue.


Benjamin Stillingfleet (1702–1771)





Tortula muralis (wall screw-moss) on the garden wall in the early morning sunshine, which I noticed while doing the washing-up after breakfast.