 | Fantasy and Passion |  |
179
EARTHQUAKE.
A giant of awful strength, he dumbly lies
Far-prisoned among the solemn deeps of earth;
The sinewy grandeurs of his captive girth,—
His great-thewed breast, colossally-molded thighs,
And arms thick-roped with muscle of mighty size,
Repose in a slumber where no dream gives birth
For months, even years, to any grief or mirth;
A slumber of tranquil lips, calm-lidded eyes!
Far-prisoned among the solemn deeps of earth;
The sinewy grandeurs of his captive girth,—
His great-thewed breast, colossally-molded thighs,
And arms thick-roped with muscle of mighty size,
Repose in a slumber where no dream gives birth
For months, even years, to any grief or mirth;
A slumber of tranquil lips, calm-lidded eyes!
Yet sometimes to his spirit a dream will creep
Of the old glad past when clothed in dauntless pride
He walked the world, unchained by tyrannous powers;
And then, while he tosses restlessly in sleep,
Dark terrible graves for living shapes yawn wide,
Or a city shrieks among her tottering towers!
Of the old glad past when clothed in dauntless pride
He walked the world, unchained by tyrannous powers;
And then, while he tosses restlessly in sleep,
Dark terrible graves for living shapes yawn wide,
Or a city shrieks among her tottering towers!
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