Featured Poem: When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven by James Joyce

Today would have been James Joyce's 133rd birthday - though he is most well known for novels including Ulysses, Finnegans Wake and  A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, he published a number of volumes of poetry during his life. To celebrate, why not take some time to read one of them, which we've chosen as this week's Featured Poem.

When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven

When the shy star goes forth in heaven
All maidenly, disconsolate,
Hear you amid the drowsy even
One who is singing by your gate.
His song is softer than the dew
And he is come to visit you.

O bend no more in revery
When he at eventide is calling,
Nor muse: Who may this singer be
Whose song about my heart is falling?
Know you by this, the lover's chant,
'Tis I that am your visitant.

James Joyce