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      UNTO THE STAR

 

                       

           

‘Tis such a long way to the star

            Rising above our shore—

It took its light to come this far

            Thousands of years and more.

 

It may have long died on its way

            Into the distant blue,

And only now appears its ray

            To shine for us as true.

 

We see an icon slowly rise

            And climb the canopy—

It lived when yet unknown to eyes:

            We see what ceased to be!

 

And so it is when yearning love

            Dies in the deepest night:

Its extinct flame still glows above

            And haunts us with its light.

 

 

(1886)