A poet sang to a star,
Ay, sang out his soul―to die;
But ever the crimson heart
Of the star beat in the sky.
The poet sang to one star,
Ay, sang out his soul―alone;
But the star with the crimson heart
For a world of poets shone.
“The Poet and the Star” as it appears in Higginson’s When the Birds Go North Again (1898).