LESSON CLXXVIII. DARKNESS. I HAD a dream, which was not all a dream. Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; Of this their desolation; and all hearts And they did live by watch-fires; and the thrones, A fearful hope was all the world contained: The flashes fell upon them. Some lay down, And others hurried to and fro, and fed Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up With mad disquietude on the dull sky, The wild birds shrieked, And, terrified, did flutter on the ground, Did glut himself again; a meal was bought All earth was but one thought, and that was death, Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh. The birds, and beasts, and famished men at bay, And a quick, desolate cry, licking the hand The crowd was famished by degrees; but two And they were enemies; they met beside The dying embers of an altar-place, Where had been heaped a mass of holy things For an unholy usage: they raked up, And, shivering, scraped, with their cold, skeleton hands, The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath Blew for a little life, and made a flame, Which was a mockery; then they lifted up Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld Each other's aspects; saw, and shrieked, and died; Unknowing who he was, upon whose brow Famine had written fiend. The world was void; The populous and the powerful was a lump ; And nothing stirred within their silent depths; Ships, sailorless, lay rotting on the sea, And their masts fell down piecemeal; as they dropped, They slept on the abyss without a surge. The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave; The moon, their mistress, had expired before; And the clouds perished. Darkness had no need BYRON. LESSON CLXXIX. A WORLD WITHOUT WATER I HAD a dream in the dead of night, I thought the world stood in affright, I thought there had fallen no cooling rain And that all the springs were dry. And I was standing on a hill, I know not how it was, but still Strength in my limbs was found, Beneath me was a far-spread heath, But now the sultry glance of the sun, And further on was a stately wood, And every leaf, though dead, did keep For there was not one breath to sweep As though death were too busy with other things Oh, terrible it was to think Of human creatures then! How they did seek in vain for drink And how the scorched foot did shrink And some had gathered beneath the trees But, alas! there was not a single breeze The cities were forsaken, For their marble wells were spent ; And the walls gave back the scorching glare Of that hot firmament: But the corses of those who died were strewn In the street, as dead leaves lay, And dry they withered, and withered alone; Night came. The fiery sun sank down, It was a night without a moon, And there swept a wind along; 'Twas almost cool: and then they thought Some blessed dew it would have brought. Vain was the hope! there was no cloud Of stars looked through the even. And men had visions dark and deep, And children sobbed themselves to sleep, And never woke again. The morning came; not as it comes Softly 'mid rose and dew; Not with those cool and fresh perfumes But the sun sprang up, as if eager to see A mother held her child to her breast, And then she saw her infant smile: What could that soft smile be? A tear had sprung with a sudden start, It had fallen upon that faint child's lip, I looked upon the mighty sea; O, what a sight it was! All its waves were gone, save two or three, Within the caves of those deep rocks And in the very midst, a ship Oh, water had been a welcome sight Oh, what a sight was the bed of the sea! The bed where he had slept, Or tossed and tumbled restlessly, And all his treasures kept For ages; he was gone; and all His rocky pillows shown, With their clustering shells, and sea-weed pall, And the rich gems round them thrown. And the monsters of the deep lay dead, Were strewn by thousands round; I turned away from earth and sea, |