The Earthworm And The Star.

An Earthworm once loved a Star. In the hush of the summer night,
He lay quite close to the ground and gazed on its golden light;
He looked from his house of clay, and dreamed of wonderful things,
Till, lo! (as he thought) his longing brought forth miraculous wings.

The Butterfly soared in the air, straight toward the beckoning spark;
His wings grew weary and chill, but the Star smiled through the dark;
His wings grew heavy and cold, the wings that he dreamed love gave,
And he folded them there in the starlight, and the dust became his grave.

Charles Hamilton Musgrove

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Charles Hamilton Musgrove

To C. 33.

Charles Hamilton Musgrove, Simple Poetry

Silence.

Charles Hamilton Musgrove, Simple Poetry

Death.

Charles Hamilton Musgrove, Simple Poetry

Columbus' Last Voyage.

Charles Hamilton Musgrove, Simple Poetry

English

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The Pilgrim's Dream - Or, The Star And The Glow-Worm

A Pilgrim, when the summer day
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Or lofty wood, shower-proof.

He paced along; and, pensively,
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Then, from the tenant of the sky
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The Eagle And The Flower.

The eyrie clung to the shattered cliff
    That the glacier's torrent thundered under;
And the unfledged eaglet's lifted eye
Looked out on the world of peak and sky
            In silent wonder.

The mountain daisy, dainty white,
    That grew by the side of the lofty eyrie,
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            Grow grim and fiery.

The days went by and the wings grew strong,
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While the yellow constellations...." (untitled)

While the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory,
In the lilac-scented stillness, let us listen to Earth's story.
All the flow'rs like moths a-flutter glimmer rich with dusky hues,
Everywhere around us seem to fall from nowhere the sweet dews.
Through the drowsy lull, the murmur, stir of leaf and sleep hum
We can feel a gay heart beating, hear a magic singing come.
Ah, I think that as we linger lighting at Earth's olden fire
Fitful gleams in clay that perish, little sparks that soon expire,
So the mother brims her gladness from a life beyond her own,
From whose darkness as a fountain up the fiery days are thrown
Starry worlds which wheel in splendour, sunny systems, histories,
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Love's Anniversary.

Like a bold, adventurous swain,
Just a year ago to-day,
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And Hymen led the way:
"Breakers ahead!" he cried,
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My daring craft in the shrieking tide,
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Sat, watchful, at the helm.

And we passed the treacherous shoals,
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Across the bluest and calmest seas
That were ever kissed by a truant breeze,
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We sailed by sweet, odorous isles,
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To a Star.

    Dreary and dismal and dark
        Is the night of life to me,
    With nothing but clouds in the heaven above,
    Cruelly hiding the star that I love,
        Whose radiance was rapture to see.

    While the blasts from the cold frozen North
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    Of the crystalline ocean incessantly roar,
        And the tempests that sweep from the pole.

    Oh! the gloom of the dark, dreary night,
        Concealing the star that I love!
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Among All Lovely Things My Love Had Been

Among all lovely things my Love had been;
Had noted well the stars, all flowers that grew
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A glow-worm, never one, and this I knew.

While riding near her home one stormy night
A single glow-worm did I chance to espy;
I gave a fervent welcome to the sight,
And from my horse I leapt; great joy had I.

Upon a leaf the glow-worm did I lay,
To bear it with me through the stormy night:
And, as before, it shone without dismay;
Albeit putting forth a fainter light.

When to the dwelling of my Love I came,
I went into the orchard quietly;
And left the glow-worm, blessing it by name,
Laid safely by itself, beneath a tree.

The whole next day, I hoped, and hoped with fear;
At night the glow-worm shone beneat...

William Wordsworth