Darkness
I had a dream which was not all a dream
The bright sun was extinguished
And the stars did wander darkling in the eternal space
Rayless and pathless
And the icy earth swung blind and blackening in the moonless air
Morning came and went, and came and brought no day
And men forgot their passions in the dread of this
Their desolation
And all hearts were chilled into a selfish prayer for light
And they did live by watchfires and the thrones
The palaces of crowned kings, the huts
The habitations of all things which dwell
Were burnt for beacons, cities were consumed
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more
And others hurried to and fro, and fed
Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up
With mad disquietude on the dull sky
Darkness
Some lay down and hid their eyes and wept
And some did rest their chins upon their clenched hands
And smiled