STARLIGHT

Last night I lay in an open field

And looked at the stars with lips sealed;

No noise moved the windless air,

And I looked at the stars with steady stare.

There were some that glittered and some that shone

With a soft and equal glow, and one

That queened it over the sprinkled round,

Swaying the host with silent sound.

“Calm things,” I thought, “in your cavern blue,

I will learn and hold and master you;

I will yoke and scorn you as I can,

For the pride of my heart is the pride of a man.”

Grass to my cheek in the dewy field,

I lay quite still with lips sealed,

And the pride of a man and his rigid gaze

Stalked like swords on heaven's ways.

But through a sudden gate there stole

The Universe and spread in my soul;

Quick went my breath and quick my heart,

And I looked at the stars with lips apart.