 | Mid-Day Gleanings |  |
THANATOS.
O'er nature's extended field
I am a tyrant king;
Where I my giant sceptre wield,
No life can ever spring.
E'en the flower, when I walk
O'er earth with kingly tread,
If by chance I touch its stalk
It at my feet falls dead.
I am a tyrant king;
Where I my giant sceptre wield,
No life can ever spring.
E'en the flower, when I walk
O'er earth with kingly tread,
If by chance I touch its stalk
It at my feet falls dead.
I chase the birds of the wood
And kill them just for fun;
They hide, but they never could
My presence ever shun.
I break up the squirrel's den,
Their happiness destroy;
And I the fleet reindeer then
Into my arms decoy.
And kill them just for fun;
They hide, but they never could
My presence ever shun.
107
Their happiness destroy;
And I the fleet reindeer then
Into my arms decoy.
I kiss the leaves on the trees,
And never greived am I
When their verdant beauty flees
And nature seems to die;
For life it is that I haunt,
In air, on land or sea;
And funer'l songs I chant—
“Farewell mortality!”
And never greived am I
When their verdant beauty flees
And nature seems to die;
For life it is that I haunt,
In air, on land or sea;
And funer'l songs I chant—
“Farewell mortality!”
Man I shall forever hate.
(Between us but a pace),
For since Adam's lost estate
I'm ever on his chase.
I murder his babe—poor child!—
E'en on its mother's breast;
Nor heed I screams pleading wild
Nor grant his vain request;
But with the babe off I run,
Making my mission brief,
Looking backward just for fun
And smiling at his grief.
(Between us but a pace),
For since Adam's lost estate
I'm ever on his chase.
I murder his babe—poor child!—
E'en on its mother's breast;
Nor heed I screams pleading wild
Nor grant his vain request;
But with the babe off I run,
Making my mission brief,
Looking backward just for fun
And smiling at his grief.
108
I visit the sick man's bed,
And to him I say “Die!”
A moment more and he's dead,
Such a monster am I.
My strength can ne'er tell its own,
For space will ne'er give room;
I forced the God from his throne
And shut him in the tomb.
And to him I say “Die!”
A moment more and he's dead,
Such a monster am I.
My strength can ne'er tell its own,
For space will ne'er give room;
I forced the God from his throne
And shut him in the tomb.
I the verdant fields disrobe,
I conquer all the brave;
The air, the sea, e'en the globe
I make as one great grave.
Over earth on ev'ry hill
I blow my pois'nous breath,
And write on every house sill
And ev'ry doorpost—Death.
I conquer all the brave;
The air, the sea, e'en the globe
I make as one great grave.
Over earth on ev'ry hill
I blow my pois'nous breath,
And write on every house sill
And ev'ry doorpost—Death.
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