Songs of the Common Day, and Ave!

An Ode for the Shelley Centenary

by Charles G.D. Roberts

 

THE NIGHT SKY

 
O DEEP of Heaven, 'tis thou alone art boundless,
     'Tis thou alone our balance shall not weigh,
'Tis thou alone our fathom-line finds soundless,—
     Whose infinite our finite must obey!
Through thy blue realms and down thy starry reaches
5
     Thought voyages forth beyond the furthest fire,
And, homing from no sighted shoreline, teaches
     Thee measureless as is the soul's desire.
O deep of Heaven, no beam of Pleiad ranging
     Eternity may bridge thy gulf of spheres!
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The ceaseless hum that fills thy sleep unchanging
     Is rain of the innumerable years.
Our worlds, our suns, our ages, these but stream
Through thine abiding like a dateless dream.