Poems in Two Volumes, Volume 2: XIII

XIII

  It is no Spirit who from Heaven hath flown,
  And is descending on his embassy;
  Nor Traveller gone from Earth the Heavens to espy!
  'Tis Hesperus--there he stands with glittering crown,
  First admonition that the sun is down!
  For yet it is broad day-light: clouds pass by;
  A few are near him still--and now the sky,
  He hath it to himself--'tis all his own.
  O most ambitious Star! an inquest wrought
  Within me when I recognised thy light;
  A moment I was startled at the sight:
  And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought
  That I might step beyond my natural race
  As thou seem'st now to do; might one day trace
  Some ground not mine; and, strong her strength above,
  My Soul, an Apparition in the place,
  Tread there, with steps that no one shall reprove!

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