And must I deem you mortal as my kind, <br />O solemn stars, that to man's doubtful mind <br />So long have seemed, 'mid the world's fallen kings <br />And glories gone, the sole eternal things; <br />To perishable flesh and mouldering dust <br />Heaven's symbols fixt, triumphant and august? <br />Do ye too suffer change, ye too decay, <br />Waxing and waning like an earthly day? <br />So must I deem: yet not with such a light <br />Shine ye, on this serene September night! <br />No, nor as alien splendours, worlds not ours, <br />In perfect order marshalled, mighty Powers, <br />Beneath whose peace we darkly do and dream: <br />Not now so vast, not so remote ye seem. <br />But, it may be some rising human tear <br />That dims my eyes and draws your radiance near, <br />Sweet tokens of the lands ye look upon, <br />Faces upturned like mine, unknown yet known, <br />Of musing friends and lovers, ye appear! <br />Pulses of Heaven, whose beating mirrors forth <br />The beating of the unnumbered hearts of earth! <br />Eyes, that in love watch over weary men! <br />Once more I lift my gaze to you, as then <br />In childhood, when you seemed but lovely lights, <br />The glorious visitants of cloudless nights; <br />And, as I gaze, I feel renewed the joy <br />Ignorance felt, nor knowledge can destroy.<br /><br />Robert Laurence Binyon<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/stars-129/
