Classic Poem

Fair planet, that hath long illum'd my day,
And cheer'd my life with many an orient ray;
Celestial hope, thy soft, yet vivid light,
Hath oft dispersed the gloom of sorrow's night;

Still thro' chill disappointment's vapour dark,
Still from thy distant beam I catch a spark,
Preserving it, lost in despair it fade,
As fire celestial once the vestal maid!

When lost in seas of sorrow, doubt, and fear,
Thou, my bright luminary, doth appear;
As to the mariner the polar star,
When first beheld in seas unknown, afar, Thou art my cynosure,—by thee I sail,
And in life's ocean brave each threat'ning gale!