ANSWER me, burning stars of night! Where is the spirit gone, That past the reach of human sight As a swift breeze hath flown? And the stars answered me -- "We roll In light and power on high; But, of the never-dying soul, Ask that which cannot die." O many-toned and chainless wind! Thou art a wanderer free; Tell me if thou its place canst find, Far over mount and sea? And the wind murmured in reply -- "The blue deep I have crossed, And met its barks and billows high But not what thou hast lost." Ye clouds that gorgeously repose Around the setting sun, Answer! have ye a home for those Whose earthly race is run? The bright clouds answered -- "We depart, We vanish from the sky; Ask what is deathless in thy heart, For that which cannot die." Speak, then, thou voice of God within, Thou of the deep low tone! Answer me, through life's restless din -- Where is the spirit flown? And the voice answered -- "Be thou still! Enough to know is given! Clouds, winds, and stars their part fulfil -- Thine is, to trust in Heaven." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VANQUISHED; ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT by FRANCIS FISHER BROWNE ODE TO SIMPLICITY by WILLIAM COLLINS (1721-1759) DELIA. AN ELEGY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD ON A LADY'S WRITING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD SONNET: 19 by RICHARD BARNFIELD IN VINCULIS; SONNETS WRITTEN IN AN IRISH PRISON: A DREAM OF GOOD by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT A PASTORAL ECLOGUE UPON THE DEATH OF SIR PHILIP SIDNEY KNIGHT by LODOWICK BRYSKETT THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: A GHOST STORY by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |