WILLIAM HABINGTON
For the bright firmament
Shoots forth no flame So silent, but is eloquent
In speaking the Creator's name.
No unregarded star
Contracts its light Into so small a character,
Removed far from our human sight,
But if we steadfast look We shall discern In it, as in some holy book,
How man may heavenly knowledge learn.
It tells the conqueror
That far-stretch'd power, Which his proud dangers traffic for, Is but the triumph of an hour
That from the farthest North,
Some nation may, Yet undiscover'd, issue forth,
And o'er his new-got conquest sway:
Some nation yet shut in With hills of ice May be let out to scourge his sin, Till they shall equal him in vice.
And then they likewise shall
Their ruin have,
For as yourselves your empires fall, And every kingdom hath a grave.
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