WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;	5
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars. In life, people search for contentment. What fuels their twisting, turning gears, what posts bright smiles on otherwise bleak face, what stirs deeply and wordlessly, what radiates warmth throughout  body. Some search for such feelings in their work, thoughtless dedication to knowledge and advancement. Others find serenity in the quiet moments alone, with blank face and mind, just as the speaker above. The charts and diagrams glaze over his eyes, the stats and figures bogging uninterested mind. But when he looks up into the night sky, silent, surrounding, all is right, in that single, fleeting moment. The only thing one can hope for is to cherish these timeless moments, and try to make the feeling last.