[IV. While the broad night above me broods]
While the broad night above me broods,
In all her shadowy plentitudes,
I let my roaming vision fare
Through many an aisle of starry air.
“Bright throngs,” I muse, “that o'er us bend,
How vague the messages you send!
“That fiery star, within whose rays
A wicked blood-red ardor plays,
“May be some world where dwell serene
A race with souls divinely clean!
“And this large tear of saintly light,
O'er the dead sunset throbbing white,
“Its snowy splendors looking now
Fit for some aureoled angel's brow,
“This star through ages may have been
Some great wild world gone mad with sin!”
