LAMPS

IMMENSE and silent night, Over the lonely downs I go; And the deep gloom is pricked with points of light Above me and below. I cannot break the bars Of Time and Fate; and if I scan the sky, There comes to me, questioning those cold stars, No signal, no reply. Yet are they less than these— These village-lights, which I do scan Below me, or far out on darkling seas Those messages from man? Round me the darkness rolls. Out of the depth, each lance of light Shoots from lost lanthorns, thrills from living souls, And shall I doubt the height? No signal? No reply? As through the deepening night I roam, Hope opens all her casements in the sky And lights the lamps of home.