Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE STAR SHOWER; NOVEMBER 14, 1866, by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL Poet's Biography First Line: Oh! To raise a mighty shout Last Line: To shine as stars of god forever -- evermore! Subject(s): Stars | ||||||||
OH! to raise a mighty shout, And bid the sleepers all come out! No dreamer's fancy fair and high, Could image forth a grander sky. And oh, for eyes of swifter power To follow fast the starry shower! Oh, for a sweep of vision clear To grasp at once a hemisphere! The solemn old chorale of Night, With fullest chords of awful might, Re-echoes still in stately march Throughout the glowing heavenly arch; But harmonies all new and rare Are intermingling everywhere, Fantastic, fitful, fresh, and free; A sparkling wealth of melody, A carol of sublimest glee, Is bursting from the starry chorus, In dazzling exultation o'er us. O wondrous sight! so swift, so bright, Like sudden thrills of strange delight; As if the stars were all at play, And kept ecstatic holiday; As if it were a jubilee Of glad millenniums fully told, Or universal sympathy With some new dawning age of gold. Flashing from the lordly lion, Flaming under bright Procyon, From the farthest east up-ranging, Past the blessed orb unchanging; Ursa's brilliance far out-gleaming, From the very zenith streaming; Rushing, as in joy delirious, To the pure white ray of Sirius; Past Orion's belted splendor, Past Capella, clear and tender; Lightening dusky Polar regions, Brightening pale encircling legions; Lines of fiery glitter tracing, Parting, meeting, interlacing; Paling every constellation With their radiant revelation! All we heard of meteor glory Is a true and sober story; Who will not for life remember This night grandeur of November? 'Tis over now, the once-seen, dream-like sight! With gradual hand the clear and breezy dawn Hath o'er the marvels of the meteor night A veil of light impenetrable drawn. And earth is sweeping on through starless space, Nor may we once look back, the shining field to trace. Ere next the glittering stranger-throng we meet, How many a star of life will seek the west! Our century's dying pulse will faintly beat; The toilers of to-day will be at rest; And little ones, who now but laugh and play, Will weary in the heat and burden of the day. Oh, is there nothing beautiful and glad But bears a message of decay and change? So be it! Though we call it stern and sad, Viewed by the torch of Love, it is not strange. 'T is mercy that in Nature's every strain Deep warning tones peal out, in solemn sweet refrain. And have not all created things a voice For those who listen farther, -- whispers low To bid the children of the light rejoice In burning hopes they yet but dimly know? What will it be, all earthly darkness o'er, To shine as stars of God forever -- evermore! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EPIC STARS by ROBINSON JEFFERS HYMN TO THE STARS by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS CHRISTMAS TREE by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS CLEMATIS MONTANA by MADELINE DEFREES THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE by JAMES GALVIN TO SEE THE STARS IN DAYLIGHT by JAMES GALVIN CONSECRATION HYMN by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL I DID THIS FOR THEE! WHAT HAST THOU DONE FOR ME? by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL A BIRTHDAY GREETING TO MY FATHER, 1860 by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL |
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