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The Constellation

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) · 1925

iambic pentameter · ABAB · 37 lines · from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke

How strange that the nature of light is a thing beyond our ken,And the flame of the tiniest candle flows from a fountain sealed!How strange that the meaning of life, in the little lives of men,So often baffles our search with a mystery unrevealed!

But the larger life of man, as it moves in its secular sweep,Is the working out of a Sovereign Will whose ways appear;And the course of the journeying stars on the dark blue boundless deep,Is the place where our science rests in the reign of law most clear.

I would read the story of Texas as if it were written on high;I would look from afar to follow her path through the calms and storms;With a faith in the worldwide sway of the Reason that rules in the sky,And gathers and guides the starry host in clusters and swarms.

When she rose in the pride of her youth, she seemed to be moving apart,As a single star in the South, self-limited, self-possessed;But the law of the constellation was written deep in her heart,And she heard when her sisters called, from the North and the East andthe West.

They were drawn together and moved by a common hope and aim--The dream of a sign that should rule a third of the heavenly arch;The soul of a people spoke in their call, and Texas cameTo enter the splendid circle of States in their onward march.

So the glory gathered and grew and spread from sea to sea,And the stars of the great republic lent each other light;For all were bound together in strength, and each was free--Suddenly broke the tempest out of the ancient night!

It came as a clash of the force that drives and the force that draws;And the stars were riven asunder, the heavens were desolate,While brother fought with brother, each for his country's cause:But the country of one was the Nation, the country of other the State.

Oh, who shall measure the praise or blame in a strife so vast?And who shall speak of traitors or tyrants when all were true?We lift our eyes to the sky, and rejoice that the storm is past,And we thank the God of all that the Union shines in the blue.

Yea, it glows with the glory of peace and the hope of a mighty race,High over the grave of broken chains and buried hates;And the great, big star of Texas is shining clear in its placeIn the constellate symbol and sign of the free United States.

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.]
starry a.: Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
spoke n.: The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
republic n.: Common weal. B. Jonson. [F. république, L. respublica commonwealth; res a thing, an affair + publicus, publica, public. See Real, a., and Public.]
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
shall v. i.: To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
thank n.: A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
constellate v. i.: To join luster; to shine with united radiance, or one general light. [Pref. con- + L. stellatus, p.p. of stellare to cover with stars, stella star. See Stellate.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Constellation is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; 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 Van Dyke, The Constellation, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-constellation.html, id L22920.

Form and metre

The Constellation is 37 lines in 9 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.

See other poems in iambic pentameter.

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 ABAB ken^A · sealed^B · men^A · unrevealed^B
2 ABAB sweep^A · appear^B · deep^A · clear^B
3 ABAB high^A · storms^B · sky^A · swarms^B
4 ABA-B apart^A · possessed^B · heart^A · and · west^B
5 ABAB aim^A · arch^B · came^A · march^B
6 ABAB sea^A · light^B · free^A · night^B
7 ABAB draws^A · desolate^B · cause^A · state^B
8 ABAB vast^A · true^B · past^A · blue^B
9 ABAB race^A · hates^B · place^A · states^B

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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
How strange that the nature of light is a thing beyond our ken,	15	····/˘·······/·
And the flame of the tiniest candle flows from a fountain sealed!	15	·····/˘/˘···/˘·
How strange that the meaning of life, in the little lives of men,	15	····/˘····/˘···
So often baffles our search with a mystery unrevealed!	14	·/˘/˘/···/˘···
But the larger life of man, as it moves in its secular sweep,	15	··/˘········/˘·
Is the working out of a Sovereign Will whose ways appear;	14	··/˘···/˘···˘/
And the course of the journeying stars on the dark blue boundless deep,	15	·····/˘·····/˘·
Is the place where our science rests in the reign of law most clear.	15	····//˘········
I would read the story of Texas as if it were written on high;	17	····/˘·/˘····/˘··
I would look from afar to follow her path through the calms and storms;	16	····˘/·/˘·······
With a faith in the worldwide sway of the Reason that rules in the sky,	17	·····//···/˘·····
And gathers and guides the starry host in clusters and swarms.	14	·/˘···/˘··/˘··
When she rose in the pride of her youth, she seemed to be moving apart,	17	·············/˘˘/
As a single star in the South, self-limited, self-possessed;	14	··/˘·····/˘·˘/
But the law of the constellation was written deep in her heart,	16	······˘/˘·/˘····
And she heard when her sisters called, from the North and the East and	15	·····/˘········
the West.	2	··
They were drawn together and moved by a common hope and aim--	15	···˘/˘····/˘···
The dream of a sign that should rule a third of the heavenly arch;	15	············/˘·
The soul of a people spoke in their call, and Texas came	14	····/˘·····/˘·
To enter the splendid circle of States in their onward march.	15	·/˘·/˘/˘····/˘·
So the glory gathered and grew and spread from sea to sea,	14	··/˘/˘········
And the stars of the great republic lent each other light;	14	······˘/˘··/˘·
For all were bound together in strength, and each was free--	13	····˘/˘······
Suddenly broke the tempest out of the ancient night!	12	/˘··/˘···/˘·
It came as a clash of the force that drives and the force that draws;	15	···············
And the stars were riven asunder, the heavens were desolate,	15	····/˘˘/˘·/˘·/˘
While brother fought with brother, each for his country's cause:	13	·/˘··/˘···/˘·
But the country of one was the Nation, the country of other the State.	18	··/˘····/˘·/˘·/˘··
Oh, who shall measure the praise or blame in a strife so vast?	14	···/˘·········
And who shall speak of traitors or tyrants when all were true?	14	·····/˘·/˘····
We lift our eyes to the sky, and rejoice that the storm is past,	15	··/·····˘/·····
And we thank the God of all that the Union shines in the blue.	15	·········/˘····
Yea, it glows with the glory of peace and the hope of a mighty race,	17	·····/˘·······/˘·
High over the grave of broken chains and buried hates;	12	·····/˘··/˘·
And the great, big star of Texas is shining clear in its place	15	······/˘·/˘····
In the constellate symbol and sign of the free United States.	16	··/˘˘/˘·····˘/˘·

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.

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