Orion
The Giant Hunter
The Giant Hunter
Orion kneeling in his starry niche.
Lowell.
Lowell.
The constellation Orion has been the admiration of all ages, and vies with Ursa Major and the famous Pleiades in historical and mythological interest. It is beyond question the most brilliant of the constellations, containing as it does two stars of the first magnitude, and four of the second. With the exception of the "Dipper," the so-called "Belt of Orion" is probably the best known and most popular of all stellar objects.
The constellation is visible from every part of the globe, and the poets of all nations have sung its praises. Manilius pays the following tribute to the mighty hunter:
Now near the twins behold Orion rise,
His arms extended measure half the skies:
His stride no less. Onward with steady face,
He treads the boundless realms of starry space,
On each broad shoulder a bright gem displayed
While three obliquely grace his mighty blade.
His arms extended measure half the skies:
His stride no less. Onward with steady face,
He treads the boundless realms of starry space,
On each broad shoulder a bright gem displayed
While three obliquely grace his mighty blade.
And again he sings:
Orion's beams, Orion's beams:
His star gemmed belt and shining blade
His isles of light, his silver streams,
And glowing gulfs of mystic shade.
His star gemmed belt and shining blade
His isles of light, his silver streams,
And glowing gulfs of mystic shade.
Shelley in his Revolt of Islam wrote:
While far Orion o'er the waves did walk
That flow among the isles.
That flow among the isles.
Lucy Larcom contributes:
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