“Stars” Summary

“Stars” Themes

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  The Grandeur of Nature

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Stars”

• Lines 1-4

  Alone in the night
  On a dark hill
  With pines around me
  Spicy and still,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  And a heaven full of stars
  Over my head,
  White and topaz
  And misty red;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Myriads with beating
  Hearts of fire
  That aeons
  Cannot vex or tire;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-16

  Up the dome of heaven
  Like a great hill,
  I watch them marching
  Stately and still,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  And I know that I
  Am honored to be
  Witness
  Of so much majesty.

  

  

  

  

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“Stars” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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“Stars” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Topaz
• Myriads
• Aeons
• Vex
• Dome
• Stately

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Stars”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Stars” Speaker

“Stars” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Stars”

More “Stars” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Lyric Poem — An introduction to lyric poetry from the Academy of American Poets.

  • A Reading of the Poem — Hear the poem read aloud. 

  • More on the Author — Another summary of Teasdale's life and works, via Britannica.

  • Nature Poetry — The Academy of American Poets discusses the tradition of poets writing about nature.

  • Biography and Poems — A biography and additional Sara Teasdale poems from the Poetry Foundation.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Sara Teasdale

  • There Will Come Soft Rains