The heavens once in turning proved, That they were by divine love moved, By wisdom, also, superintending, Which by its craft was ever sending Knowledge toward the minds of men Who sought celestial secrets then. But now, alas!, the stars their courses Are dumbly charted by brutish forces, Which blindly do their powers exert O’er soulless bodies, so dead, inert, Such that, gazing, we no more discover The ordering ardor of Another.
Philip Primeau writes from Rhode Island. His work has appeared in Crisis, Catholic World Report, and Homiletic & Pastoral Review, among other places. He publishes regularly at his Substack, Gladsome Light (gladsomelight.substack.com). He can be contacted at primeau.philip1@gmail.com.