If we turn to Shakspere, we find the belief molding some of his most beautiful expressions:
Comets, importing change of times and states,
Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky.
When Romeo and Juliet are married the prayer is:
So smile the heavens upon this holy act,
That after hours with sorrow chide us not.
In one of the most frequently quoted passages of Shakspere the astrological reference is generally omitted:
In my stars I am above thee: ... some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
From Byron astrologers quote a fine passage, using it as though he were a believer:
Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven,
If in your bright leaves we would read the fate
Of men and empires—'t is to be forgiven
That, in our aspirations to be great,
Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state,
And claim a kindred with you; for ye are
A beauty and a mystery, and create
In us such love and reverence from afar,
That fortune, fame, power, life, have named themselves a star.
Dante, writing of Mars, says:
With him shalt thou see
That immortal who was at his birth impressed
So strongly with this star, that of his deeds
The nations shall take note.
And speaks in another place thus:
Where the planets roll
To pour their wished influence on the world.
