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Home  »  An American Anthology, 1787–1900  »  1513 Proem

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By OliverHerford

1513 Proem

IF this little world to-night

Suddenly should fall through space

In a hissing, headlong flight,

Shrivelling from off its face,

As it falls into the sun,

In an instant every trace

Of the little crawling things—

Ants, philosophers, and lice,

Cattle, cockroaches, and kings,

Beggars, millionaires, and mice,

Men and maggots,—all as one

As it falls into the sun,—

Who can say but at the same

Instant from some planet far

A child may watch us and exclaim:

“See the pretty shooting star!”