Stars

Wild eyes—and faces ashen grey   
 That strain through lofty prison bars   
 To see the everlasting stars,   
Then turn—to slumber as we may:   
  
Even as we are, so are they,           
 And here is peace for all who know   
 The stars still follow where we go,   
When heaven and earth have passed away.   
  
Obedient to the Unknown Power,   
 From out the ruin of a world           
 A clustered galaxy is hurled   
To glimmer through its steadfast hour:   
  
The blazing sun of Shakespeare’s soul   
 Shattered to star-dust, fills again   
 With meteor-flights the immortal brain           
That seeks a yet more splendid goal;   
  
And still a voice—that now is ours—   
 Repeats for aye the unknown word   
 That thrilled the heart of beast and bird,   
Ere man had learned to love the flowers.