Astronomy themed poems?

[Manok101]

In class I have to write an essay about a poem, it can be any poem, and I'd love to do an astronomy themed poem, does anyone know of any, preferably by a well known author, or poet?

[long_arms]

How about this one? By Sarah Williams.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Old_Astronomer

"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

Dan

[DeepThought]

I'm not too good with classic literature, but I always had a soft spot for Edgar Allen Poe..

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/evening-star/

[laser_jock99]

"I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD"

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay: 10

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

[gkec]

There was a young girl from Bright

Who could travel faster than light

She set out one day

In a relative way

And came back the previous night

[foundaplanet]

I looked out of the window there were twinkles in the sky.

Totally astonished I put my scope outside to cool then went back inside.

For six long weeks I had been waiting to get back out again,

Beneath the stars to chill a bit with a few cosmic friends.

I finished tea then up the stairs to put on some warm clothes,

I made a flask of good hot tea and back outside I goes.

Oh look, what a surprise that was a total waste of time.

[Qualia]

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer - Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

A Perfect Night - Charles Holmes

No moon and not a cloud - a perfect night!