 | Poems by Henry Septimus Sutton |  |
14
THE SKY AT NIGHT.
Great House of spaces, rolling orbs and years!
Rebuking this world's self-important hum
With the vast, awful silence of thy spheres,
Thou with enormous thought-stretch mak'st us dumb.
Yet if in thee I, simply like a child,
The floor of heaven, and the wide roof, may see,
Of this dear endless earth of our delight,
I shall be reconciled
To let my song live happy, loud, and free,
A bold sedge-warbler 'neath the Sky at night.
Rebuking this world's self-important hum
With the vast, awful silence of thy spheres,
Thou with enormous thought-stretch mak'st us dumb.
Yet if in thee I, simply like a child,
The floor of heaven, and the wide roof, may see,
Of this dear endless earth of our delight,
I shall be reconciled
To let my song live happy, loud, and free,
A bold sedge-warbler 'neath the Sky at night.
With thee it is, and with thy stars, that now,
O child-entrancing Sky, I have to do;
Thou art the highway of the Moon, and thou
Shalt be the highway of my spirit too.
Clouds climb, and cannot touch thee; winds blow high
And cannot reach thee; but my thought shall reach,
And ride, as all thy starry navies ride,
On thy broad breast, O Sky!
With every floating brilliance there hold speech,
And sail far off on thy slow western tide.
O child-entrancing Sky, I have to do;
Thou art the highway of the Moon, and thou
Shalt be the highway of my spirit too.
Clouds climb, and cannot touch thee; winds blow high
And cannot reach thee; but my thought shall reach,
And ride, as all thy starry navies ride,
On thy broad breast, O Sky!
With every floating brilliance there hold speech,
And sail far off on thy slow western tide.
15
Stars! Gems scintillant, in most ancient wells
Of cold, keen lustre dyed unto the core:—
Stars! Rosaries whereon old Time still tells
His years and ages as he says them o'er:—
Stars! Signal-lights which for her fast ally,
The giant Night, to bid him hasten on
His reinforcements, Twilight high upholds:—
Stars! Night-flowers of the sky,
Waking at glow-worm time, and one by one
All noiseless starting full-blown from your folds:—
Of cold, keen lustre dyed unto the core:—
Stars! Rosaries whereon old Time still tells
His years and ages as he says them o'er:—
Stars! Signal-lights which for her fast ally,
The giant Night, to bid him hasten on
His reinforcements, Twilight high upholds:—
Stars! Night-flowers of the sky,
Waking at glow-worm time, and one by one
All noiseless starting full-blown from your folds:—
Great glorious company of throbbing flames!
Joyful dismissers of the dismal dark!
How could men foist on you their savage names,
And your vague groups with lying lines demark?
How could they cage you up, a wild-beast show
Of Lion, Scorpion, Centaur, Dragon, Bear,
Awed by Orion's club-uplifting boast?
The child's heart will not know
Such fancies grim; it loves your aspects fair,
And re-installs your undivided host.
Joyful dismissers of the dismal dark!
How could men foist on you their savage names,
And your vague groups with lying lines demark?
How could they cage you up, a wild-beast show
Of Lion, Scorpion, Centaur, Dragon, Bear,
Awed by Orion's club-uplifting boast?
The child's heart will not know
Such fancies grim; it loves your aspects fair,
And re-installs your undivided host.
16
With what slow pace, and with what silent shoon,
And with what pale looks tenderly astray,
Comes up the Lady of the Sky, the Moon,
Sunk in deep thought as of some bygone day!
Through her sky-field insensibly she glides
Among her star-flowers blooming in the night,
Of all their crowd unconscious, till the hour
When, as young Morn uprides,
The Sun ascending with his scythe of light
Shall mow down, masterful, each shining flower.
And with what pale looks tenderly astray,
Comes up the Lady of the Sky, the Moon,
Sunk in deep thought as of some bygone day!
Through her sky-field insensibly she glides
Among her star-flowers blooming in the night,
Of all their crowd unconscious, till the hour
When, as young Morn uprides,
The Sun ascending with his scythe of light
Shall mow down, masterful, each shining flower.
But oh, thou dark-blue Sky-mead! Would that I
Might stand upon thee,—might look down and see
How daisies stars are, in our meadowy sky,
As stars seem brighter daisies upon thee.
Life is on all sides beautiful; it sees
Its courts between two all-wide beauties set,—
Roof'd with blue beauty, with green beauty paved:—
We need our miseries!
Else would our souls their higher aim forget,
And be to Nature's fairness all enslaved.
Might stand upon thee,—might look down and see
How daisies stars are, in our meadowy sky,
As stars seem brighter daisies upon thee.
Life is on all sides beautiful; it sees
Its courts between two all-wide beauties set,—
Roof'd with blue beauty, with green beauty paved:—
We need our miseries!
Else would our souls their higher aim forget,
And be to Nature's fairness all enslaved.
17
And oh, thou dark Cloak, God's own vestment wide,—
Blue sprinkled o'er with twinkling drops of gold,—
Would that some wind might blow thee once aside
To give us glimpse of glories thou dost hold!
Yet Whom thou coverest thou canst not hide;
Through thy all-marvellous texture showers a rain
Of splendours such as in the old time gave
Thee to be deified:—
How can we wonder that the ancient brain
Should deem thy stars gods strong to slay or save?
Blue sprinkled o'er with twinkling drops of gold,—
Would that some wind might blow thee once aside
To give us glimpse of glories thou dost hold!
Yet Whom thou coverest thou canst not hide;
Through thy all-marvellous texture showers a rain
Of splendours such as in the old time gave
Thee to be deified:—
How can we wonder that the ancient brain
Should deem thy stars gods strong to slay or save?
For so they sit, each night, calm on the sky,
Reading what day hath writ on earth's wide page,
That hardly keep from adoration I,
Born to the usage of a Christian age.
But I am taught, and may not bend the knee,
And may not give clasp'd worship of the hands;
Yet must the stars the sacred symbols seem
Of truth divine to me,—
Truth that for ever high above us stands
To wake our souls from earth's engrossing dream.
Reading what day hath writ on earth's wide page,
That hardly keep from adoration I,
Born to the usage of a Christian age.
But I am taught, and may not bend the knee,
And may not give clasp'd worship of the hands;
Yet must the stars the sacred symbols seem
Of truth divine to me,—
Truth that for ever high above us stands
To wake our souls from earth's engrossing dream.
18
Great floor of heaven, with star-seed oversown,—
Floor by the hand Divine for ever laid,—
What feet are on thee! feet all spotless grown,
And kiss'd with robes whose pureness casts no shade,
Fluttering for ever in the wind of praise,—
Feet of the sinless, from whose large eyes looks
Wide wonder blent with joy's peculiar flame,—
Wide wonder at God's ways,—
Sinless, whose foreheads He hath ta'en for books
Whereon to write the splendours of His name.
Floor by the hand Divine for ever laid,—
What feet are on thee! feet all spotless grown,
And kiss'd with robes whose pureness casts no shade,
Fluttering for ever in the wind of praise,—
Feet of the sinless, from whose large eyes looks
Wide wonder blent with joy's peculiar flame,—
Wide wonder at God's ways,—
Sinless, whose foreheads He hath ta'en for books
Whereon to write the splendours of His name.
Stars, bright inheritors of heaven! O tell
Some little abstract of what ye have known,
In God's metropolis wherein ye dwell,
O'er-flooded by the glories of the throne!
Jewels, set in the floor of heaven, and trod
Of blest feet, tell us of the joy they know
Whose praises, humbly daring, upward spring
To kiss the feet of God,—
Bright angels, each conveying to or fro
Some vouchsafed message, on proud-swelling wing!
Some little abstract of what ye have known,
In God's metropolis wherein ye dwell,
O'er-flooded by the glories of the throne!
Jewels, set in the floor of heaven, and trod
Of blest feet, tell us of the joy they know
Whose praises, humbly daring, upward spring
To kiss the feet of God,—
Bright angels, each conveying to or fro
Some vouchsafed message, on proud-swelling wing!
19
They will not speak, these stars, to fleshly ear;—
Of angels and of heavenly temple, dumb,
And of the Lord of angels, they appear;
Yet to the spirit's ear their anthems come.
Shine o'er us, then, your message bright to bring,
Great hieroglyphs of God, for ever shine;
And while ye all, like vocal tongues of flame,
In sensuous silence, sing,
Lift high our thoughts to the great House divine,
And thrill with worship of th' Eternal Name!
Of angels and of heavenly temple, dumb,
And of the Lord of angels, they appear;
Yet to the spirit's ear their anthems come.
Shine o'er us, then, your message bright to bring,
Great hieroglyphs of God, for ever shine;
And while ye all, like vocal tongues of flame,
In sensuous silence, sing,
Lift high our thoughts to the great House divine,
And thrill with worship of th' Eternal Name!
| Poems by Henry Septimus Sutton | |