TO THE URSA MAJOR.

BY HENRY WARE, JR.

WITH what a stately and majestic step
That glorious constellation of the north
Treads its eternal circle! going forth
Its princely way among the stars in slow
And silent brightness. Mighty one, all hail!
I joy to see thee on thy glowing path

Walk, like some stout and girded giant: stern,
Unwearied, resolute, whose toiling foot
Disdains to loiter on its destined way.

The other tribes forsake their midnight track,
And rest their weary orbs beneath the wave;
But thou dost never close thy burning eye,
Nor stay thy steadfast step. But on, still on,
While systems change, and suns retire, and worlds
Slumber and wake, thy ceaseless march proceeds.
The near horizon tempts to rest in vain.
Thou, faithful sentinel, dost never quit

Thy long-appointed watch; but, sleepless still,
Dost guard the fix'd light of the universe,
And bid the north for ever know its place.

Ages have witness'd thy devoted trust,

Unchanged, unchanging. When the sons of God
Sent forth that shout of joy which rang through heaven,
And echoed from the outer spheres that bound

The illimitable universe, thy voice

Join'd the high chorus; from thy radiant orbs
The glad cry sounded, swelling to His praise,
Who thus had cast another sparkling gem,

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TO THE URSA MAJOR.

Little, but beautiful, amid the crowd

Of splendours that enrich his firmament.

As thou art now, so wast thou then the same.

Ages have roll'd their course, and time grown gray;
The earth has gather'd to her womb again,

And yet again, the myriads that were born

Of her uncounted, unremember'd tribes.

The seas have changed their beds; the eternal hills
Have stoop'd with age; the solid continents

Have left their banks; and man's imperial works-
The toil, pride, strength of kingdoms, which had flung
Their haughty honours in the face of Heaven,
As if immortal-have been swept away,
Shatter'd and mouldering, buried and forgot.
But time has shed no dimness on thy front,

Nor touch'd the firmness of thy tread; youth, strength,
And beauty, still are thine; as clear, as bright,
As when the Almighty Former sent thee forth,
Beautiful offspring of his curious skill,

To watch earth's northern beacon, and proclaim
The eternal chorus of eternal Love.

I wonder as I gaze. That stream of light,
Undimm'd, unquench'd-just as I see it now--
Has issued from those dazzling points through years
That go back far into eternity.

Exhaustless flood! for ever spent, renew'd
For ever! Yea, and those refulgent drops,
Which now descend upon my lifted eye,
Left their far fountain twice three years ago.
While those wing'd particles, whose speed outstrips
The flight of thought, were on their way, the earth
Compass'd its tedious circuit round and round,
And, in the extremes of annual change, beheld
Six autumns fade, six springs renew their bloom.

TO THE URSA MAJOR.

So far from earth those mighty orbs revolve!

So vast the void through which their beams descend!

Yes, glorious lamp of God! He may have quench'd Your ancient flames, and bid eternal night

Rest on your spheres; and yet no tidings reach
This distant planet. Messengers still come
Laden with your far fire, and we may seem
To see your lights still burning; while their blaze
But hides the black wreck of extinguish'd realms,
Where anarchy and darkness long have reign'd.

Yet what is this, which to the astonish'd mind
Seems measureless, and which the baffled thought
Confounds? A span, a point, in those domains
Which the keen eye can traverse. Seven stars
Dwell in that brilliant cluster, and the sight
Embraces all at once; yet each from each
Recedes as far as each of them from earth.
And every star from every other burns
No less remote. From the profound of heaven,
Untravell'd even in thought, keen, piercing rays
Dart through the void, revealing to the sense
Systems and worlds unnumber'd. Take the glass
And search the skies. The opening skies pour down
Upon your gaze thick showers of sparkling fire;
Stars, crowded, throng'd, in regions so remote,
That their swift beams—the swiftest things that be-
Have travell❜d centuries on their flight to earth.
Earth, sun, and nearer constellations! what

Are ye amid this infinite extent

And multitude of God's most infinite works!
And these are suns! vast, central, living fires,
Lords of dependent systems, kings of worlds
That wait as satellites upon their power,
And flourish in their smile. Awake, my soul,

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TO THE URSA MAJOR.

And meditate the wonder! Countless suns

Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds!
Worlds in whose bosoms living things rejoice,

And drink the bliss of being from the fount
Of all-pervading Love. What mind can know,
What tongue can utter, all their multitudes!
Thus numberless in numberless abodes!
Known but to thee, bless'd Father! Thine they are,
Thy children, and thy care; and none o'erlook'd
Of thee! No, not the humblest soul that dwells
Upon the humblest globe, which wheels its course
Amid the giant glories of the sky,

Like the mean mote that dances in the beam
Among the mirror'd lamps, which fling
Their wasteful splendour from the palace wall,
None, none escape the kindness of thy care:
All compass'd underneath thy spacious wing,
Each fed and guided by thy powerful hand.

Tell me, ye splendid orbs! as from your throne
Ye mark the rolling provinces that own

Your sway, what beings fill those bright abodes?
How form'd, how gifted? what their powers, their state,
Their happiness, their wisdom? Do they bear
The stamp of human nature? Or has God
Peopled those purer realms with lovelier forms
And more celestial minds? Does Innocence
Still wear her native and untainted bloom?
Or has Sin breathed his deadly blight abroad,
And sow'd corruption in those fairy bowers?
Has War trod o'er them with his foot of fire?
And Slavery forged his chains; and Wrath, and Hate,
And sordid Selfishness, and cruel Lust,

Leagued their base bands to tread out light and truth,
And scatter'd woe where Heaven had planted joy?

TO THE URSA MAJOR.

Or are they yet all paradise, unfallen
And uncorrupt; existence one long joy,
Without disease upon the frame, or sin
Upon the heart, or weariness of life;
Hope never quench'd, and age unknown,

And death unfear'd: while fresh and fadeless youth
Glows in the light from God's near throne of love,
Open your lips, ye wonderful and fair!

Speak, speak! the mysteries of those living worlds
Unfold! No language? Everlasting light

And everlasting silence? Yet the eye

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May read and understand.

The hand of God

Has written legibly what man may know,

THE GLORY OF THE MAKER. There it shines,

Ineffable, unchangeable; and man,

Bound to the surface of this pigmy globe,

May know and ask no more. In other days,
When death shall give the encumber'd spirit wings,
Its
range shall be extended; it shall roam,

Perchance among those vast mysterious spheres,
Shall pass from orb to orb, and dwell in each,
Familiar with its children; learn their laws,
And share their state, and study and adore
The infinite varieties of bliss

And beauty, by the hand of Power divine
Lavish'd on all its works. Eternity
Shall thus roll on with ever fresh delight;
No pause of pleasure or improvement; world
On world still opening to the instructed mind
An unexhausted universe, and time
But adding to its glories. While the soul,
Advancing ever to the Source of light
And all perfection, lives, adores, and reigns
In cloudless knowledge, purity, and bliss.