Starfield:The Light of Stars

[Written in the summer of 1838, Longfellow's The Light of Stars is a stirring tribute to the cosmos, before humanity had ever explored it. The following is a single, beautiful, stanza.]

Within my breast there is no light

But the cold light of stars;

I give the first watch of the night

To the red planet Mars.

The start of the unconquered will,

He rises in my breast,

Serene, and resolute, and still,

And calm, and self-possessed.