Thursday, November 7, 2024

The Faithful Beauty of the Stars

Alexandra drew her shawl closer about her and stood leaning against the frame of the mill, looking at the stars which glittered so keenly through the frosty autumn air. She always loved to watch them, to think of their vastness and distance, and of their ordered march. It fortified her to reflect upon the great operations of nature, and when she thought of the law that lay behind them, she felt a sense of personal security. That night she had a new consciousness of the country, felt almost a new relation to it. (p 41)

from O Pioneers! (1913)
by Willa Cather (1873 - 1947)
More prose
Winter Stars

I went out at night alone;
The young blood flowing beyond the sea
Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings—
I bore my sorrow heavily.
But when I lifted up my head
From shadows shaken on the snow,
I saw Orion in the east
Burn steadily as long ago.

From windows in my father’s house,
Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,
I watched Orion as a girl
Above another city’s lights.

Years go, dreams go, and youth goes too,
The world’s heart breaks beneath its wars,
All things are changed, save in the east
The faithful beauty of the stars.


By Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)
More poetry
More ~ about ~ Orion
from Denver & the BBC

Also, a good night for
"Moon Song" ~ Patty Griffin:

" Drank all I could swallow
Now the moon's gonna' follow me home
. . . "

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