@3Wie das Gestirn, Ohne Hast, Aber ohne Rast, Drehe sich jeder Um die eigne Last.—Goethe.@1 AH well! If were so That ever we might go, Starwise, in silent flight Through the encircling night, With neither haste nor rest, Whether in East or West, In North or South aflame; Having this single aim: Always the appointed task To perform, and not to ask Foreknowledge of our face. @3Wie das Gestirn@1—even so! Summers come and summers go, Fragrant flowers and drifting snow, Empires rise and empires fall; These can not disturb at all Draco's eighty flames of fire, Vega, and the golden Lyre. All the fret of our brief life, All the seeking and the strife, What we hate and what we choose, What we win and what we lose— These, how poor they all appear When we think of that high sphere Where the stars burn on for aye Through the vast expanse of sky, Without haste and without rest, Ever doing each its best, At its own appointed work. Soul of man, the stars above Speak to thee of our great love, Centred in no misty creed, But interpreted in deed. List! the secret now they tell: Do thy work, and do it well. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE SUN by HAYDEN CARRUTH ESSAY ON STONE by HAYDEN CARRUTH STORIES ARE MADE OF MISTAKES by JAMES GALVIN FAITH by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON BEFORE DAWN; SONNET by AMY LOWELL THE PAST IS THE PRESENT (2) by MARIANNE MOORE A LETTER ON THE USE OF MACHINE GUNS AT WEDDINGS by KENNETH PATCHEN |