Poem by Henry Van Dyke

Stars and the Soul

To Charles A. Young, Astronomer

”Two things,” the wise man said, ”fill me with awe:
The starry heavens and the moral law.”
Nay, add another wonder to thy roll, --
The living marvel of the human soul! 

Born in the dust and cradled in the dark,
It feels the fire of an immortal spark,
And learns to read, with patient, searching eyes,
The splendid secret of the unconscious skies. 

For God thought Light before He spoke the word;
The darkness understood not, though it heard:
But man looks up to where the planets swim,
And thinks God’s thoughts of glory after Him. 

What knows the star that guides the sailor’s way,
Or lights the lover’s bower with liquid ray,
Of toil and passion, danger and distress,
Brave hope, true love, and utter faithfulness? 

But human hearts that suffer good and ill,
And hold to virtue with a loyal will,
Adorn the law that rules our mortal strife
With star-surpassing victories of life. 

So take our thanks, dear reader of the skies,
Devout astronomer, most humbly wise,
For lessons brighter than the stars can give,
And inward light that helps us all to live. 

The world has brought the laurel-leaves to crown
The star-discoverer’s name with high renown;
Accept the flower of love we lay with these
For influence sweeter than the Pleiades!

1. The Wind of Sorrow
2. War-Music
3. Nepenthe
4. The Ancestral Dwelling
5. The Heavenly Hills of Holland

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