The Seventh Planet (Uranus)

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
William Herschel, born 1738 in Hanover,
died 1822 in Slough.
On March 13, 1781, at 19 New King Street, Bath,
he peers through his 7-foot reflector telescope,
6.2-inch aperture, handmade.
A chilly 5 degrees Celsius, around 10 PM,
the damp garden air carries rouge powder's metallic tang.
He spots it in Gemini, thinks it's a comet,
visibly larger than the stars.

[Chorus]
Uranus, URan-us, the seventh planet,
greenish hue, slow orbit.
Or Your-Uh-nuss, as Mrs. Patterson insists,
blushing at the chalkboard diagram.
Johann Bode, 1747 to 1826,
names it after the sky god in 1784.
But Herschel called it Georgium Sidus first,
for King George III.

[Verse 2]
Caroline Herschel, his sister, records the night,
though her words on that exact moment are lost.
The eyepiece micrometer measures the diameter,
confirms it's no star, no comet.
Weeks later, it's a planet, the first found with a telescope.
In the garden observatory, wooden mount cold under fingers,
spring earth mixes with lens polish.

[Bridge]
Two ways to say it: URan-us, sharp and astronomical,
or Your-Uh-nuss, polite in the parsonage.
Mrs. Patterson prefers the latter, clears her throat,
while I sketch the orbits on slate,
Herschel's journal entry from March 13 glowing.

[Verse 3]
Faint rings, 27 moons, tilted axis,
discovered from that Bath backyard.
Bode's proposal in Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch,
accepted by 1850.
The telescope stands as sentinel,
bridging sky and syllable.

[Outro]
Uranus, whichever way you pronounce it,
spins on in the dark.