The Father of Earth

IF once a wandering star
Dwelt, as our seers teach,
Trillions of miles afar
And moved within our reach,

If as it neared it drew
Planets from out the sun
By that force Newton knew,
Worlds of which we are one,

And went alone away;
Then should we not search Space,
Ardent as those that pray,
For any fading trace

Of that great traveler
But for whose journeying
There’d be no buds to stir
Through any soil in Spring,

No birds to sing and mate,
No leaves to welcome light,
No one to question Fate
Mute in the deeps of Night.