Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck, And yet methinks I have astronomy, But not to tell of good or evil luck, Of plagues, of dearths, or seasons' quality; 5 Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind, Or say with princes if it shall go well, By oft predict that I in heaven find; But from thine eyes my knowledge I derive, 10 And, constant stars, in them I read such art As truth and beauty shall together thrive, If from thyself to store thou wouldst convert; Or else of thee this I prognosticate: Thy end is truth’s and beauty’s doom and date.
I don't make my decisions based on the stars,
But I am influenced by astrology,
Not to tell me about good or bad luck,
About plagues, of draughts, or the quality of the harvest;
Nor can I tell the fortune of each brief minute,
Indicating whether each minute will be thunder, rain, or wind,
Or say to princes if things will go well,
By anything I find in the stars;
But from your eyes I take my knowledge,
Your eyes are constant stars where I read such things as this:
Truth and beauty will thrive together,
If you turn away from yourself to breeding;
If not, I prophesy this about you:
Your death is the doom and death-day of truth and beauty.
Suzy Kim is a graduate student studying Victorian literature at Brown University. She studied English and Psychology at University of Pennsylvania, and some of her creative work can be found in the upcoming volume of The Graphic Canon: Tales of Crime and Mystery Vol. 1. She is from Seoul, and currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island.