Mihai Eminescu and the Astronomy Behind Poetry

I always considered astronomy to be the poetry of science. It is for this reason I want to share something different with you today,.. a poem.
Around 1782, pioneer astronomer William Herschel discovered the first planetary nebula (near v Aquarii) and theorized that some of the stars we see at night are long gone, since it takes light thousands or millions of years to reach our planet. 
A century later, a Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu, was the first to translate Herschel’s theory into verse, writing one of the most beautiful tributes to these long gone stars. (the photo was shot by Romanian photographer Iulian Alexandru Popa in 2015 during the perseids meteor shower over the Carpathian Mountains) – Roman Alexander 

Here is Mihai Eminescu’s poem, “To the Star”, translated in English:

To the Star 
(by Mihai Eminescu, written cca. 1883)

“‘Tis such a long way to the star

Rising above our shore—

It took its light to come this far

Thousands of years and more.

                           

It may have long died on its way

Into the distant blue,

And only now appears its ray

To shine for us as true.

          

We see an icon slowly rise

And climb the canopy—

It lived when yet unknown to eyes:

We see what ceased to be!

          

And so it is when yearning love

Dies in the deepest night:

Its extinct flame still glows above

And haunts us with its light.”