Eight Harvard Poets/The Tree of Stars

THE TREE OF STARS

THERE stands a tree where no man knows,
And like an earthly tree it grows,
Save that upon its branches wide
The earth and all the stars beside,
The chilly moon and the great sun,
The little planets, one by one,
Are hung like fruit to redden there
And ripen in the heavenly air.

And when the seeds are round and full
The watchful gods will come and pull
The ripened fruit from off the tree;
And then that heavenly company
Will bear the shining planets in
And gamer them in a deep bin
And sort them out, and save the seed
To plant new trees in time of need.