Abstract

The Poetry of Astronomy

The article presents information on the book "The Poetry of Astronomy: A Series of Familiar Essays on the Heavenly Bodies," by Richard A. Proctor. The books which bear the name of Proctor upon their title-page bid fair to become like the stars of which he writes for multitude. The present one is a republication of a dozen articles from various English magazines. He has given the collection the general title of "The Poetry of Astronomy," and it indicates, his idea of the poetical part of the science. The volume as a sample, infer that astronomical poetry has three chief characteristics. First, as to its form, it is very respectable prose, sometimes a little careless, and sometimes a little clumsy; secondly, as to substance, astronomical poetry deals with matters about which we know next to nothing, yet they may be so presented as to lead one to suppose that the author or poet knows a great deal; and lastly, it deals with enormous numbers.