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Lyric Poem · Nature

Places among the stars

by Stephen Crane

1Places among the stars,

2Soft gardens near the sun,

3Keep your distant beauty;

4Shed no beams upon my weak heart.

5Since she is here

6In a place of blackness,

7Not your golden days

8Nor your silver nights

9Can call me to you.

10Since she is here

11In a place of blackness,

12Here I stay and wait

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Quick facts

Poem
Places among the stars
Poet
Stephen Crane
Length
12 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Nature, Love

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape
12 lines · one 12-line stanza
Line length
Lines run 4-6 syllables (median 6), consistent with trimeter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
Refrains
Since she is hereIn a place of blackness,Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake

Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record
Stephen Crane1871–1900
Source record
PoetryDBPlaces among the stars by stephen-crane, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 1b0abc42992bca04
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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