Classic Poem

Strange visitant! that burst'st upon our sight,
And with thy meteor-splendors fill'st the sky;
From what far distant bourn, what starless night,
Com'st thou, in terror clad, to every eye!
Amidst the stars' unquenched, eternal fires,
I see thee like some mighty warrior burn;
Who, with his flaming sword upraised, aspires
A seat among their peaceful spheres to earn.
But vain the strife! Soon in the depths of space
Thou'lt vanish, and thy place no more be found!
The astronomer thy path may never trace,
Nor know the years of thine appointed round;
While moving on, in its benignant sphere,
Nightly each star the heart of man doth cheer.