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BEYOND, EVER BEYOND
  
  
  
  
  
  
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326

BEYOND, EVER BEYOND

Beyond the outline of the furthest star
It may be, new star-globes and sun-globes are,
Full of new life and force.
Past these again new systems, and past these
Eternal ever-blossoming galaxies
That urge through the blue depths their fiery course.
In each star human beings there may be,
And forests full of many a giant tree,
And ardent great new flowers,
And tides gigantic, plunging through the deep
Of oceans beating on vast shores asleep
And dull and reckless of the waves like ours.
The sun itself, our sun, hurls from its heart
Titanic flames aloft. They upward dart,
Hundreds of miles on high.

327

They shoot, red-flickering, through the enormous space
So tall they almost lick the next star's face
And almost traverse the unmeasured sky.
There may be stars that sway as many moons
As we see stars. The human weak thought swoons
Before the space profound.
Our sun (and we too) may be whirling fast
Around some unseen sun,—careering past
Its unseen golden orb without a sound.
All stars we see may be but one small part
Of wide creation. All perhaps may dart,
All star-ships in full sail,
Around some central sun; and this, maybe,
Round other suns to all eternity;
Sun beyond sun, till brain and eye-ball fail.
Gods behind gods, vast rulers, there may be:
Some gods to whom is given to rule the sea,
And some to rule the air.
Each star may have a ruler, and each sun
A ruler; or huge depths may own but one
Monarch, whose power no rival thrones impair.

328

Beyond Christ, God.—And, beyond God again,
New Gods of more Titanic heart and reign:
Beyond these we may find
New star-gods, ruling depths we cannot see:
God behind God to all eternity,
Just as each star suggests a star behind.
The Ruler of this earth, this speck in space,
May be subservient to the sun-god's face,
A tributary lord.
Account he renders often, it may be,
Of his great dealings with our land and sea
To the higher God, for judgment or reward.
The God of the gold-tressed gigantic sun
May be a mere proconsul-god to one
Who rules beyond his gaze:
God behind God, and dream beyond our dream,
Till the stern eyes of far-off rulers gleam
So faint, they seem like stars in the sea-haze.