 | Art and Fashion |  |
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THE DOOMED CITY.
'Twas midnight on the waveless sea,
Which bathed the citadel;
Over ocean and over land,
The calm of slumber fell.
Which bathed the citadel;
Over ocean and over land,
The calm of slumber fell.
A light dawn'd in the scowling west;
A red and flashing light,
Like a star—but it broader spread—
It was no star of night.
A red and flashing light,
Like a star—but it broader spread—
It was no star of night.
A spirit came rushing through sea and cloud,
On wings of might it flew;
And a glory over the soundless deep,
Like a robe of lightning threw:
On wings of might it flew;
And a glory over the soundless deep,
Like a robe of lightning threw:
Broader and broader spread that flame,
As it swept to the shore more near;
Earth and sky seem'd voiceless with awe,
Before that thing of fear!
As it swept to the shore more near;
Earth and sky seem'd voiceless with awe,
Before that thing of fear!
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A ship! I beheld her skeleton sides,
And her deck with beings rife;
Whose hearts through their fleshless ribs appear'd,
Throbbing, and warm with life!
And her deck with beings rife;
Whose hearts through their fleshless ribs appear'd,
Throbbing, and warm with life!
A ship! a ship! like a meteor she pass'd,
With ruin upon her speed;
Her tatter'd sails, like dead men's shrouds,
To the silent night were freed.
With ruin upon her speed;
Her tatter'd sails, like dead men's shrouds,
To the silent night were freed.
There was not a wave on the sea,
There was not a breath of air,
Yet rapidly, rapidly sail'd that ship,
As both wind and tide were there.
There was not a breath of air,
Yet rapidly, rapidly sail'd that ship,
As both wind and tide were there.
It seem'd as some horrible spell,
On my fear-fraught vision lay;
Worlds I'd have given to quit that spot,
Yet I could not turn away.
On my fear-fraught vision lay;
Worlds I'd have given to quit that spot,
Yet I could not turn away.
There was one man gain'd the shore—
And the earth grew black and rank—
There was one wild rush of wind and wave,
And the ship and her dread crew sank!
And the earth grew black and rank—
There was one wild rush of wind and wave,
And the ship and her dread crew sank!
Then swiftly I fled the city,
In deep and fearful pain;
And many dark months flew over my head,
Ere I saw her proud towers again.
In deep and fearful pain;
And many dark months flew over my head,
Ere I saw her proud towers again.
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Meanwhile Death had despoil'd her halls,
Through her wide streets grass had grown;
And of all her grace and majesty,
Her strong towers remain'd alone.
Through her wide streets grass had grown;
And of all her grace and majesty,
Her strong towers remain'd alone.
I saw the dead lying in heaps,
The aged, the young, and the fair;
I ask'd what that sight might mean,
They told me the Plague had been there.
The aged, the young, and the fair;
I ask'd what that sight might mean,
They told me the Plague had been there.
They told me the night and hour
When the pestilence first spread:
I knew 'twas the night I had seen the ship;
I knew 'twas the hour I had fled.
When the pestilence first spread:
I knew 'twas the night I had seen the ship;
I knew 'twas the hour I had fled.
And a curse came over that city,
The strength of her towers fell low;
And over the pride of her palaces,
The dark waves of ocean flow.
The strength of her towers fell low;
And over the pride of her palaces,
The dark waves of ocean flow.
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