The Stars Poem by James Ephraim McGirt

Tell me, oh star, art thou a jewel
Shining in the sky so bright?
Or art thou a little lantern
Hung from heaven to give us light?

Often when I am alone,
And think no one is nigh,
I glance into the heavens
And catch your little eye.

I do not know your mission;
That none doth understand;
But I know if thou could'st do so
Thou would'st tell me tales of man.

Some men are so foolish
There's no eye but their own,
And steal out in the darkness
Where their deeds of vice are sown.

Oh star, I wish thou had'st a voice
To reach to the uttermost dell;
Where men would commit their evils,
Would whisper and say: 'I'll tell.'

Oh, if thou could only talk,
Many wonders thou would'st tell;
Thou that saw within the walk,
The trap in which the purest fell.

All mankind feel quite free,
When they think no one can see;
And cease to care how slack they walk—
Oh, if thou could only talk!
If thou that shed the faintest beam,
Could only tell what thou hast seen
It would be enough.