Genre:

Essay, Poetry

Subjects:

Astronomy, Prognostication

    Includes a translation of a poem by Pierre J de Béranger on 'The Shooting Stars'. The poem ponders the possibility that 'our earthly doom / Obeys some star's mysterious power' and that a falling star represents a dying mortal (324). Concludes by observing that 'that star controll'd a monarch's fate' and urges 'my child' to welcome 'thy lowly dwelling' rather than the transient 'stars of state' (325).