On Looking Up by Chance at the Constellations
Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)
You'll wait a long, long time for anything much
To happen in heaven beyond the floats of cloud
And the Northern Lights that run like tingling nerves.
The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch,
Nor strike out fire from each other nor crash out loud.
The planets seem to interfere in their curves -
But nothing ever happens, no harm is done.
We may as well go patiently on with our life,
And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and sun
For the shocks and changes we need to keep us sane.
It is true the longest drout will end in rain,
The longest peace in China will end in strife.
Still it wouldn't reward the watcher to stay awake
In hopes of seeing the calm of heaven break
On his particular time and personal sight.
That calm seems certainly safe to last to-night.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 233 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCABCDEDFFEGGHH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 785 |
Words | 150 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
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"On Looking Up by Chance at the Constellations" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/30887/on-looking-up-by-chance-at-the-constellations>.
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