Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By John LancasterSpalding

760 The Starry Host

THE COUNTLESS stars, which to our human eye

Are fixed and steadfast, each in proper place,

Forever bound to changeless points in space,

Rush with our sun and planets through the sky,

And like a flock of birds still onward fly;

Returning never whence began their race,

They speed their ceaseless way with gleaming face

As though God bade them win Infinity.

Ah whither, whither is their forward flight

Through endless time and limitless expanse?

What power with unimaginable might

First hurled them forth to spin in tireless dance?

What beauty lures them on through primal night,

So that for them to be is to advance?