The stars, a jolly company, br I envied, straying late and lonely; br And cried upon their revelry: br "O white companionship! You only br In love, in faith unbroken dwell, br Friends radiant and inseparable!" br br Light-heart and glad they seemed to me br And merry comrades (EVEN SO br GOD OUT OF HEAVEN MAY LAUGH TO SEE br THE HAPPY CROWDS; AND NEVER KNOW br THAT IN HIS LONE OBSCURE DISTRESS br EACH WALKETH IN A WILDERNESS). br br But I, remembering, pitied well br And loved them, who, with lonely light, br In empty infinite spaces dwell, br Disconsolate. For, all the night, br I heard the thin gnat-voices cry, br Star to faint star, across the sky.