A Star
loss
lyric poem
melancholic
haunting
Beauty was that Far vanished flame, Call it a star Wanting better name. And gaze and gaze Vaguely until Nothing is left Save a grey ghost-hill. Here wait I On the world's rim Stretching out hands To Seraphim.
A Star - meaning Summary
Longing at the World’s Rim
Kavanagh’s short lyric treats beauty as a vanished flame or star that resists naming. The speaker stares until the vivid image thins to a "grey ghost-hill," signaling loss and fading memory. Standing metaphorically on the world’s rim, the narrator reaches outward toward Seraphim, suggesting a shift from earthly longing to a spiritual or transcendent yearning. The poem compresses grief, desire, and the move from concrete image to ethereal aspiration.
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