 | Marah |  |
153
PERTURBATION
1
Greyer and dimmer grow the dim grey boundsOf the leaden twilight, salter the sea's breath,
And harsher, angrier, the low moan that sounds
Yon crags beneath.
2
The unquiet sea-birds seem unquieter,And more importunate their plaintive quest.
About the sullen beach begins to stir
A vague unrest.
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3
Sightless has set the ineffectual sun.There is no moon, no star, no visible cloud.
But land, and sky, and sea are swathed in one
Sepulchral shroud.
4
And now that shroud is troubled, tho' unrent.There comes a menacing movement from afar,
And sounds as of a distant armament
Arming for war.
5
It is as tho' the elements—earth, air,And water—each in its own camp aloof,
Were furtively beginning to prepare
And put to proof
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6
Each its own weapons, or to organizeEach its own forces, for some strife impending.
Swift silent signals for the winds to rise
The air is sending.
7
The sea is gathering from the outer deepIts heavier waves. Like some beleaguer'd giant,
The land is setting fast on cliff and steep
A front defiant.
8
And coldly, shudderingly, creepily,With these awakenings of the torpid pain
Pent in the pallid land, the pallid sky,
The pallid main,
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9
My heart begins to move once more, and beAgain the battle-field of ghastly hosts
At war with one another, and with me.
Legions of ghosts!
10
Yet will the abortive stir beginning nowChange or determine nothing. When 'tis o'er,
Heaven, earth, and sea, and I, will all, I know,
Be as before.
11
Rest, wretched slaves of Nature, whose mad zestOf movement makes the curse that you inherit
Harder to bear! Rest, winds and waves! Rest, rest,
Perturbèd Spirit!
| Marah | |