</poem>



Nor forget I to sing of the wonder, the ship as she swam up my bay,

Well-shaped and stately the Great Eastern swam up my bay, she was 600 feet long,

Her moving swiftly surrounded by myriads of small craft I forget not to sing;

Nor the comet that came unannounced out of the north flaring in heaven,

Nor the strange huge meteor-procession dazzling and clear shooting over our heads,

(A moment, a moment long it sail’d its balls of unearthly light over our heads,

Then departed, dropt in the night, and was gone


Excerpt of Year of Meteors (1859-60) from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

"Image of Falling Star by Witold Pruszkowski, 1884, oil on canvas
Falling Star (1884) by Witold Pruszkowski
Falling Star by Witold Pruszkowski