 | Sonnets by the Rev. Charles Strong |  |
LXI. TO THE REV. W. R. DAWES, F.R.A.S.
Not better to the plain-encamp'd Chaldee,
Or him who from Mycenæ's palace-wall
Watch'd nightly for the news of Ilion's fall,
Were known the stars of heaven than, Dawes, to thee:
Or him who from Mycenæ's palace-wall
Watch'd nightly for the news of Ilion's fall,
Were known the stars of heaven than, Dawes, to thee:
Awe-struck they view'd the glittering canopy;
Whilst thou, with Science, handmaid at thy call,
Turnest thy mind-illumined eye on all,
Descrying systems link'd in harmony.
Whilst thou, with Science, handmaid at thy call,
Turnest thy mind-illumined eye on all,
Descrying systems link'd in harmony.
Who first saw Saturn's dim mysterious ring?
Who, when huge spots darken'd the day-star's face,
Their changes mark'd, and mighty eddying?
Who, when huge spots darken'd the day-star's face,
Their changes mark'd, and mighty eddying?
Grateful the eager moment I retrace,
When we, as oped the Dome with upward spring,
Sounded the shining depths of boundless space.
When we, as oped the Dome with upward spring,
Sounded the shining depths of boundless space.
Observatory, Haddenham, 1860.
| Sonnets by the Rev. Charles Strong | |