Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By John JeromeRooney

1578 A Beam of Light

A BEAM of light, from the infinite depths of the midnight sky,

Painted with infinite love a star in a convict’s eye;

When, lo! the ghosts of his sins were afraid and fled with a curse,

And the soul of the man walked free in the fields of the universe!