"The Testimony of the Suns" is a lengthy astronomical poem by American poet and playwright George Sterling that combines elements of science, fantasy, science fiction, and philosophy. Literary historian S. T. Joshi called it Sterling's "longest poem and one of his greatest." Upon the poem's first publication, critic Ambrose Bierce wrote in the New York American: "...its publication is an event of capital importance. Written in French and published in Paris, it would stir the very stones in the streets. ...It is nothing but literature—nothing but the most notable utterance that has been heard in our Western World since the great heart of Poe was broken against the adamant of his country's inattention." The unusual poem was too long for magazines and was rejected by book publishers, so in 1903 Sterling self-published it in his first book, The Testimony of the Suns and Other Poems. When his book was released, Sterling's poems had been published in newspapers and magazines for seven years. The Washington Post had published his first important poem, and the prestigious national magazine Harper's Monthly had published another Sterling poem, but "The Testimony of the Suns" marked the first time Sterling's poetry attracted nationwide attention from critics. The national critical success of "The Testimony of the Suns" established Sterling's career as a poet.
Creation of the poem
Influences on "The Testimony of the Suns" Sterling learned to love astronomy because "my dear dead father was greatly interested in it, and I've spent many hours on the house-top with him and his telescope." He marveled at planets, stars, and galaxies—apparently resting in peace but actually slowly and endlessly colliding with and destroying each other. Another inspiration to Sterling was British author H. G. Wells, to whom he wrote: "I feel so far I've done only one thing worth of any one's attention—an astronomical poem I call ‘The Testimony of the Suns', written under the inspiration of your many references to the stars, notably that tremendous thing entitled ‘Under the Knife.' They (your references) thrill me like great poetry. No one loves them as I do. The sleeper gazing on the unchanged constellations—the Time Traveller aware of the star-drift [in Wells' novel The Time Machine]—how they make me ache!" Wells' short story "Under the Knife" tells of a man under anesthesia for surgery who dies on the operating table. His consciousness floats out of his body, away from Earth, beyond our galaxy. Before the man is brought back to life, he sees our entire universe as a speck in an immense hand. Sterling was an avid reader of Edgar Allan Poe's writings, so Poe's last book Eureka: A Prose Poem may have influenced "The Testimony of the Suns." Historians of science have claimed that in Eureka Poe was the first person to conceive a Newtonian evolving universe in which stars and galaxies are collapsing together. Thomas Benediktsson in his book George Sterling said the poem was also influenced by German scientist-philosopher Ernst Haeckel's 1899 book Die Welträthsel (published in America as The Riddle of the Universe).
Writing process and reactions from friends Sometime after December 16, 1901, Sterling began to write a long poem depicting the galaxies and stars of "the stellar universe at strife, when to the eye it is a symbol of such peace and changelessness ...It surely is a war if the cosmic processes are viewed as a whole." Sterling wrote his poem during morning commutes to work from his house in Piedmont, writing in his head while riding one of his uncle Frank C. Havens' ferryboats across the bay to San Francisco, then polishing his verses during his twelve-minute walk from the Ferry Building up Market Street to Uncle Frank's corporate headquarters at 14 Sansome Street. Not until Sterling reached his large office and sat at his mammoth rolltop desk did he commit that morning's words to paper. His long poem's draft in his penciled neat handwriting eventually filled six small notebooks. In early 1902 Sterling sent his untitled, not-yet-completed "star poem" to his mentor, the author and critic Ambrose Bierce. Bierce responded: "Where are you going to stop?—I mean at what stage of development? ...you are advancing at a stupendous rate. This last beats any and all that went before—or I am bewitched and befuddled. I dare not trust myself to say what I think of it. In manner it is great, but the greatness of the theme!—that is beyond anything. It is a new field—the broadest yet discovered. ...You must make it your domain. You shall be the poet of the skies, the prophet of the suns." Sterling worked on his star poem for more than a year, expanding it, sending drafts to Bierce for comments, and polishing every stanza. He showed a draft to astronomer Garrett P. Serviss to make sure his scientific terms and concepts were accurate. In February 1903, Sterling finally finished "The Testimony of the Suns." It was 644 lines long, far too lengthy for any magazine. That month Sterling shared his poem with his closest friend, Jack London. Five years later London remembered how he felt when he first read the star poem. He wrote how Martin (a character London based on himself) echoed his own response after reading a similar star poem (written by a character London based on Sterling). London sneaks in Sterling's title "The Testimony of the Suns" in his fifth sentence below:
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