Classic Poem

While eager angels watched in awe,
God fashioned with his hands
Two shining spheres to work his law,
And carry his commands.

With patient art he shaped them true,
With calm, untiring care;
And none of those bright watchers knew
Which one to call most fair.

He dropped one lightly down to earth
Amid the morning's blue—
And on a gossamer had birth
A bead of blinding dew.

It flamed across the hollow field,
On tiptoe to depart,
Outvied Arcturus, and revealed
All heaven in its heart.

He tossed the other into space
(As children toss a ball)
To swing forever in its place
With equal rise and fall;

To flame through the ethereal dark,
Among its brother spheres,
An orbit too immense to mark
The little tide of years.