 | Fantasy and Passion |  |
113
ORDER.
Like skeletons rise the bare trees, gaunt and stark;
The poignant air is calm; no breezes roam;
Millions of stars pierce the blue winter dark,
And fill with throbbing radiance its deep dome.
The poignant air is calm; no breezes roam;
Millions of stars pierce the blue winter dark,
And fill with throbbing radiance its deep dome.
I throw my head far backward till there stay
No gleams of earth in what my vision meets,
And through night's luminous blooms I seem to stray,
As through a summer meadow of marguerites!
No gleams of earth in what my vision meets,
And through night's luminous blooms I seem to stray,
As through a summer meadow of marguerites!
At the grand order of this intricate maze,
Its boundless balance, its miraculous art,
I thrill with wonder that no words can phrase ...
Yet a strange thought strikes discord through my heart!
Its boundless balance, its miraculous art,
I thrill with wonder that no words can phrase ...
Yet a strange thought strikes discord through my heart!
What if some portion of this awful plan
Grew suddenly weak and faltered in its place,
And one long mighty ominous shudder ran
Through all the immense black altitudes of space?
Grew suddenly weak and faltered in its place,
And one long mighty ominous shudder ran
Through all the immense black altitudes of space?
And satellite planets from their own suns fled,
To plunge amid cold voids of skies unknown,
With all the peoples upon their bosoms dead,
And all their haughtiest cities overthrown?
To plunge amid cold voids of skies unknown,
With all the peoples upon their bosoms dead,
And all their haughtiest cities overthrown?
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And system told to system its wild fears,
Till each in fiery disarray was riven,
And terrible crashes of colliding spheres
Roared ruin through the infinitudes of heaven!
Till each in fiery disarray was riven,
And terrible crashes of colliding spheres
Roared ruin through the infinitudes of heaven!
Dizzied and shocked at my own ghastly dream,
Again toward earth I turn my dazzled sight,
And watch how tranquilly the dim lands gleam,
Touched by the grave quietus of the night!
Again toward earth I turn my dazzled sight,
And watch how tranquilly the dim lands gleam,
Touched by the grave quietus of the night!
Filled with new thoughts, on heaven once more I gaze,
And hear, while peace restores me to her spell,
Invisible sentinels down starry ways
Pass the deep resonant watchword, “All is well!”
And hear, while peace restores me to her spell,
Invisible sentinels down starry ways
Pass the deep resonant watchword, “All is well!”
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