The Light of Stars
The night is come, but not too soon;And sinking silently,All silently, the little moonDrops down behind the sky.
There is no light in earth or heavenBut the cold light of stars;And the first watch of night is givenTo the red planet Mars.
Is it the tender star of love?The star of love and dreams?O no! from that blue tent above,A hero's armor gleams.
And earnest thoughts within me rise,When I behold afar,Suspended in the evening skies,The shield of that red star.
O star of strength! I see thee standAnd smile upon my pain;Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand,And I am strong again.
Within my breast there is no lightBut the cold light of stars;I give the first watch of the nightTo the red planet Mars.
The star of the unconquered will,He rises in my breast,Serene, and resolute, and still,And calm, and self-possessed.
And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art,That readest this brief psalm,As one by one thy hopes depart,Be resolute and calm.
O fear not in a world like this,And thou shalt know erelong,Know how sublime a thing it isTo suffer and be strong.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- mailed a.
- Protected by an external coat, or covering, of scales or plates.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- erelong adv.
- Before the ere long.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Light of Stars is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Light of Stars, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-light-of-stars.html, id L17482.
Form and metre
The Light of Stars is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A- soonA · silently · moonA · sky
- 2 -A-A heaven · starsA · given · marsA
- 3 ABAB loveA · dreamsB · aboveA · gleamsB
- 4 ABAB riseA · afarB · skiesA · starB
- 5 ABAB standA · painB · handA · againB
- 6 ABAB lightA · starsB · nightA · marsB
- 7 ABAB willA · breastB · stillA · possessedB
- 8 ABAB artA · psalmB · departA · calmB
- 9 -A-A this · erelongA · is · strongA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The night is come, but not too soon; | 8 | ········ |
| And sinking silently, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| All silently, the little moon | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Drops down behind the sky. | 6 | ······ |
| There is no light in earth or heaven | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But the cold light of stars; | 6 | ······ |
| And the first watch of night is given | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To the red planet Mars. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is it the tender star of love? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The star of love and dreams? | 6 | ······ |
| O no! from that blue tent above, | 8 | ········ |
| A hero's armor gleams. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And earnest thoughts within me rise, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When I behold afar, | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| Suspended in the evening skies, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| The shield of that red star. | 6 | ······ |
| O star of strength! I see thee stand | 8 | ········ |
| And smile upon my pain; | 6 | ······ |
| Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand, | 9 | ·/˘˘···˘· |
| And I am strong again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Within my breast there is no light | 8 | ········ |
| But the cold light of stars; | 6 | ······ |
| I give the first watch of the night | 8 | ········ |
| To the red planet Mars. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The star of the unconquered will, | 9 | ·······˘· |
| He rises in my breast, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Serene, and resolute, and still, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And calm, and self-possessed. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And thou, too, whosoe'er thou art, | 7 | ······· |
| That readest this brief psalm, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As one by one thy hopes depart, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Be resolute and calm. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O fear not in a world like this, | 8 | ········ |
| And thou shalt know erelong, | 7 | ······· |
| Know how sublime a thing it is | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To suffer and be strong. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.