 | [Poems by Whittier in] A Study of Whittier's Apprenticeship as a Poet |  |
TO A STAR
Wonderful, yet familiar! fadeless gem,
Set by the hand of angels, in the arch
Of the eternal heaven! how beautiful
Thy soft light resteth on the unquiet sea,
That gathereth up its waves, as if the winds
Of yesterday, were prisoned in its depths
And struggling to be free!
The hazy clouds,
Pale relics of the recent storm have drawn
Their thin grey shadows out upon the sky,
And curtained in its beauty. Thou alone
Lookest upon the darkness. The great wave
That cometh upward to the guarded shore,
With its eternal thunder, hath received
Thy solitary beam, yet pauses not
In its mad turbulence. So have I seen
The light of woman's love poured out upon
The darkness of man's soul, yet hushing not
The tempest of its passions—a blest beam
Crossing the troubled surges of the mind,
Like moonlight glimpsing on a sky of storm.
Set by the hand of angels, in the arch
Of the eternal heaven! how beautiful
Thy soft light resteth on the unquiet sea,
That gathereth up its waves, as if the winds
Of yesterday, were prisoned in its depths
And struggling to be free!
The hazy clouds,
Pale relics of the recent storm have drawn
Their thin grey shadows out upon the sky,
And curtained in its beauty. Thou alone
Lookest upon the darkness. The great wave
That cometh upward to the guarded shore,
202
Thy solitary beam, yet pauses not
In its mad turbulence. So have I seen
The light of woman's love poured out upon
The darkness of man's soul, yet hushing not
The tempest of its passions—a blest beam
Crossing the troubled surges of the mind,
Like moonlight glimpsing on a sky of storm.
Sole watcher of the heavens! I have not learned
Chaldea's mystic faith, yet thou dost seem
The emblem of a solitary heart,
Companionless like mine. No kindred star
Hath gladness in thy presence; and thy light
Falleth upon the waters like the love
Of a young heart upon the hollow world,
Unanswered, unregarded.
Chaldea's mystic faith, yet thou dost seem
The emblem of a solitary heart,
Companionless like mine. No kindred star
Hath gladness in thy presence; and thy light
Falleth upon the waters like the love
Of a young heart upon the hollow world,
Unanswered, unregarded.
New England Weekly Review, June 29, 1829 (From American Manufacturer)
| [Poems by Whittier in] A Study of Whittier's Apprenticeship as a Poet | |