"I stood upon the open casement,
And looked upon the night,
And saw the westward-going stars
Pass slowly out of sight.
"Slowly the bright procession
Went down the gleaming arch,
And my soul discerned the music
Of the long triumphal march;
"Till the great celestial army,
Stretching far beyond the poles,
Became the eternal symbol
Of the mighty march of souls.
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"Onward, forever onward,
Red Mars led on his clan;
And the moon, like a mailèd maiden,
Was riding in the van.
"And some were bright in beauty,
And some were faint and small,
But these might be, in their great heights,
The noblest of them all.
"Downward, forever downward,
Behind earth's dusky shore,
They passed into the unknown night--
They passed, and were no more.
"No more! Oh, say not so!
And downward is not just;
For the sight is weak and the sense is dim
That looks through heated dust.
"The stars and the mailèd moon,
Though they seem to fall and die,
Still sweep in their embattled lines
An endless reach of sky.
"And though the hills of Death
May hide the bright array,
The marshalled brotherhood of souls
Still keeps its onward way.
"Upward, forever upward,
I see their march sublime,
And hear the glorious music
Of the conquerors of Time.
"And long let me remember
That the palest fainting one
May to diviner vision be
A bright and blazing sun."