ASTRONOMER, MATHEMATICIAN. 1809-1890 <br /> <br />FOR him the Architect of all <br />Unroofed our planet's starlit hall; <br />Through voids unknown to worlds unseen <br />His clearer vision rose serene. <br /> <br />With us on earth he walked by day, <br />His midnight path how far away! <br />We knew him not so well who knew <br />The patient eyes his soul looked through; <br /> <br />For who his untrod realm could share <br />Of us that breathe this mortal air, <br />Or camp in that celestial tent <br />Whose fringes gild our firmament? <br /> <br />How vast the workroom where he brought <br />The viewless implements of thought! <br />The wit how subtle, how profound, <br />That Nature's tangled webs unwound; <br /> <br />That through the clouded matrix saw <br />The crystal planes of shaping law, <br />Through these the sovereign skill that planned,-- <br />The Father's care, the Master's hand! <br /> <br />To him the wandering stars revealed <br />The secrets in their cradle sealed <br />The far-off, frozen sphere that swings <br />Through ether, zoned with lucid rings; <br /> <br />The orb that rolls in dim eclipse <br />Wide wheeling round its long ellipse,-- <br />His name Urania writes with these <br />And stamps it on her Pleiades. <br /> <br />We knew him not? Ah, well we knew <br />The manly soul, so brave, so true, <br />The cheerful heart that conquered age, <br />The childlike silver-bearded sage. <br /> <br />No more his tireless thought explores <br />The azure sea with golden shores; <br />Rest, wearied frame I the stars shall keep <br />A loving watch where thou shalt sleep. <br /> <br />Farewell! the spirit needs must rise, <br />So long a tenant of the skies,-- <br />Rise to that home all worlds above <br />Whose sun is God, whose light is love.<br /><br />Oliver Wendell Holmes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/benjamin-peirce/
