This one is not about a particular planet, but an Italian philosopher. A supporter of the heliocentric Copernican view of the solar system, envisaging an infinite universe of numerous worlds moving in space, he was tried by the Inquisition for heresy and burned at the stake.
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)
Folks reckoned the Earth is so rare
that the rest of all space must be bare
**and empty of creatures,
**but among all their teachers
one asserted what most wouldn’t dare.
That philosopher’s surname was Bruno.
His claim? We’re not numero uno
**and each star is a sun—
**that there’s not merely one
but bajillions!—a thing we now do know?
But for a heretical scholar,
it could be quite risky to holler
**that we’re not the hub
**of existence, ’cause, bub,
you will blaze from your shoes past your collar.
(Appeared in The Asses of Parnassus.)
Last edited by Martin Elster; 05-27-2021 at 12:41 PM.
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