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The stars are   

Although I do not sing   

About them—   

The sky and the trees   

Are indifferent   

To whom they please   

The rose is unmoved   

By my nose   

And the garland in your hair   

Although your eyes be lakes, dies   

Why sigh for a star   

Better bay at the moon   

Better bay at the moon . . .   

Oh moon, moon, moon

Source: Poetry (September 2004).

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MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

This poem originally appeared in the September 2004 issue of Poetry magazine

View this poem in its original format

• It is Very Often As Though
  by Renée Ashley
• Edward Hopper Study: Hotel Room
  by Victoria Chang
• The Beginning of the Fields
  by Angela Shaw

• September 2004 Table of Contents
• Subscribe to Poetry magazine
• About Poetry magazine
• Buy This Issue

More about this poem

Biography

Samuel Menashe earned acclaim as the creator of numerous compact and precise poems. His first American volume, No Jerusalem But This, was praised by Stephen Spender for "language intense and clear as diamonds." Spender declared that Menashe "can compress an attitude to life that has an immense history into three lines."

To Open, Menashe's 1974 collection, impressed Christian Science Monitor critic Victor Howes with its . . .

Continue reading this biography

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Poems by Samuel Menashe

• Adam Means Earth*
• A pot poured out
• A-
• Apotheosis
• At a Standstill

• More poems by Samuel Menashe (37 poems)
  • At Cross Purposes
  • Autumn
  • Biographer
  • Captain, Captive
  • Commemoration
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Descent
  • Forever and a Day
  • Heat Wave
  • Here
  • Here Now
  • In Your Face
  • Landscape
  • Mirror Image
  • Psalm
  • Rue
  • Ruins
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Scissors
  • Simon Says
  • Small Kingdom
  • So they stood
  • Tempus fugit
  • The Dead of Winter
  • The Living End
  • The Niche
  • The Visitation
  • Triptych
  • Twilight Blues
  • Voyage
  • White hair does not weigh
  • Who

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Poem Categorization

SUBJECT Nature, Arts & Sciences, Stars, Planets, Heavens, Humor & Satire

POET’S REGION U.S., Mid-Atlantic

Poetic Terms Free Verse, Persona

If you disagree with this poem's categorization, make a suggestion.

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Related

Audio

• Poem of the Day: Adam Means Earth
• Poem of the Day: All my friends are homeless
• Poem of the Day: All my life when I woke up at night
• Poem of the Day: The Annunciation
• Poem of the Day: At a Standstill
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• Poem of the Day: On My Birthday
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• Poem of the Day: Paradise after Giovanni di Paolo
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• Poem of the Day: Scissors
• Poem of the Day: Self-employed
• Poem of the Day: Sleep
• Poem of the Day: Walking Stick
• Poem of the Day: Warrior Wisdom

Articles

• A Deeper Consideration by Clive James
• “I Did Not Advance, I Cannot Retreat” by Danielle Chapman
• Interview: Samuel Menashe by Adam Travis

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