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On Looking Up By Chance At The Constellations

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 drought 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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Comments

  • Kjelson
    May 18, 2004
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    The last four lines of this poem really hit me deep. Something about waiting for the unexpected miracles in life-- the calms in the storm (tempest for those Shakespeare fans)...A night of reflection under the stars-- this is Frost at his greatest- bringing us into the real world and then taking us right beyond it again...this poem really makes me think about those few times we have in life were everything falls into place at once...