Page:Selections from the American poets (IA selectamerpoet00bryarich).pdf/264
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Henry Ware, Jr.
260
To watch earth's northern beacon, and proclaimThe eternal chorus of eternal Love. I wonder as I gaze. That stream of light,Undimm'd, unquench'd—just as I see it now—Has issued from those dazzling points through yearsThat go back far into eternity.Exhaustless flood! for ever spent, renew'dFor ever! Yea, and those refulgent drops,Which now descend upon my lifted eye,Left their far fountain twice three years ago.While those winged particles, whose speed outstripsThe flight of thought, were were on their way, the earthCompass'd its tedious circuit round and round,And, in the extremes of annual change, beheldSix autumns fade, six springs renew their bloom.So far from earth those mighty orbs revolve!So vast the void through which their beams descend! Yes, glorious lamp of God! He may have quench'dYour ancient flames, and bid eternal nightRest on your spheres; and yet no tidings reachThis distant planet. Messengers still comeLaden with your far fire, and we may seemTo see your lights still burning; while their blazeBut hides the black wreck of extinguish'd realms,Where anarchy and darkness long have reign'd. Yet what is this, which to the astonish'd mindSeems measureless, and which the baffled thoughtConfounds? A span, a point, in those domainsWhich the keen eye can traverse. Seven starsDwell in that brilliant cluster, and the sightEmbraces all at once; yet each from eachRecedes as far as each of them from earth.And every star from every other burnsNo less remote. From the profound of heaven,Untravell'd even in thought, keen, piercing raysDart through the void, revealing to the senseSystems and worlds unnumber'd.Take the glass And search the skies.The opening skies pour downUpon your gaze thick showers of sparkling fire;