“I run my course, and leave the stars to run theirs” — towards a meaning.

This post is an attempt to shed light on one of my favourite lines from a literary piece. “I run my course, and leave the stars to run theirs.” The line is from J. P. Clark-Bekederemo’s work, The Masquerade, the sequel to Song of a Goat. But I begin with a glance at Robert Frost’s Choose Something like a Star, which I believe provides additional context for this endeavour — and end with a few lessons we can learn from our siblings, those glowing celestial bodies — stars.

Choose Something like a Star may be about seeking guidance and meaning in a chaotic and seemingly indifferent universe. In the poem, we are presented with the futility of gazing at and expecting useful answers from the stars. The speaker of the poem addresses a star (and all that it symbolizes) and asks it to reveal some of its secrets, but the star remains silent and distant.

Boy on a ladder. Unsplash.

“But to be wholly taciturn
In your reserve is not allowed.
Say something to us we can learn
By heart and when alone repeat.
Say something! And it says “I burn.”
But say with what degree of heat.
Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.
Use language we can comprehend.
Tell us what elements you blend.
It gives us strangely little aid,
But does tell something in the end.”