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 | Poems |  |
17
Oh, silent, ever wandering stream!
Borne onward thus by thee,
Like some lone mariner I seem
Upon a shoreless sea.
Borne onward thus by thee,
Like some lone mariner I seem
Upon a shoreless sea.
And floating o'er thy gulf illumed
By dim tradition's ray,
On scenes—on ages long entombed
Look down a little way.
By dim tradition's ray,
On scenes—on ages long entombed
Look down a little way.
Like one who sails Italian seas,
When setting suns reveal
Old towers, and buried palaces,
Far underneath his keel.
When setting suns reveal
Old towers, and buried palaces,
Far underneath his keel.
There lie the glorious gems of old,
Lost in thy waters wide,
Whose gleam we faintly yet behold
Far down amid thy tide.
Lost in thy waters wide,
Whose gleam we faintly yet behold
Far down amid thy tide.
18
And darker, deeper yet below,
Methinks, all dimly seen,
A thousand fearful Shapes of Woe
And Horror couch between.
Methinks, all dimly seen,
A thousand fearful Shapes of Woe
And Horror couch between.
The Deeds, whose memory wakens
Stern thoughts of Nemesis;
And Crimes, that lurk like krakens
Within thy dark abyss.
Stern thoughts of Nemesis;
And Crimes, that lurk like krakens
Within thy dark abyss.
'Tis like that scene with terrors rife,
When earth and ocean held
The first chaotic throes of life—
The hideous forms of Eld.
When earth and ocean held
The first chaotic throes of life—
The hideous forms of Eld.
The monsters of old time, whose bones
Yet whiten o'er the plain—
The brood, whose giant skeletons
Are all that now remain—
Yet whiten o'er the plain—
The brood, whose giant skeletons
Are all that now remain—
19
Behemoth and Leviathan,
That roved this world of old—
Such are the Thoughts and Deeds of Man,
Which thy dark realms enfold.
That roved this world of old—
Such are the Thoughts and Deeds of Man,
Which thy dark realms enfold.
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