As Winds That Blow Against a Star
      (For Aline)
by Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

Now by what whim of wanton chance⁠
⁠      Do radiant eyes know sombre days?
And feet that shod in light should dance
⁠      Walk weary and laborious ways?

But rays from Heaven, white and whole,
⁠      May penetrate the gloom of earth;
And tears but nourish, in your soul,
⁠      The glory of celestial mirth.

The darts of toil and sorrow, sent
⁠      Against your peaceful beauty, are
As foolish and as impotent
⁠      As winds that blow against a star.

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