The Comfort of the Stars

When I am overmatched by petty cares And things of earth loom large, and look to be Of moment, how it soothes and comforts me To step into the night and feel the airs Of heaven fan my cheek; and, best of all, Gaze up into those all-uncharted seas Where swim the stately planets: such as these Make mortal fret seem light and temporal. I muse on what of Life may stir among Those spaces knowing naught of metes nor bars; Undreamed-of dramas played in outmost stars, And lyrics by archangels grandly sung. I grow familiar with the solar runes And comprehend of worlds the mystic birth; Ringed Saturn, Mars, whose fashion apes the earth, And Jupiter, the giant, with his moons. Then, dizzy with the unspeakable sights above, Rebuked by Vast on Vast, my puny heart Is greatened for its transitory part, My trouble merged in wonder and in love.