The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott Edited by his Son Edwin Elliott ... A New and Revised Edition: Two Volumes |
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A DREAM. |
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 | The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott |  |
A DREAM.
I dream'd that, tired with travel, I return'd
To Blacklow's summit, and stood there with God
Alone, at midnight. Side by side we trod
The heath; and while around us rock'd and burn'd
The mountains, like a mountain'd sea of flame,
A gilded worm pronounced in scorn His name!
I, with my foot, the reptile would have spurn'd,
But could not. We stood still as death! That worm
Then spun slim films around th' Almighty's form,
Binding the hands that lift the seas, the feet
That will tread out the stars! and while, in mirth,
It spake this curse, I heard my own heart beat:
“With worse than barrenness I curse thee, Earth!
Henceforth, let every child be hopeless from his birth!”
To Blacklow's summit, and stood there with God
Alone, at midnight. Side by side we trod
The heath; and while around us rock'd and burn'd
257
A gilded worm pronounced in scorn His name!
I, with my foot, the reptile would have spurn'd,
But could not. We stood still as death! That worm
Then spun slim films around th' Almighty's form,
Binding the hands that lift the seas, the feet
That will tread out the stars! and while, in mirth,
It spake this curse, I heard my own heart beat:
“With worse than barrenness I curse thee, Earth!
Henceforth, let every child be hopeless from his birth!”
But God said, “No! surely thou shalt not see
Every child hopeless, because thou art vile;
For thou art thy own victim, watch'd by me,
And I sheath vengeance in a dreadful smile.
But ere I bless thy curses for mankind,
And make them curses infinite to thee,
Thousands of thousands, foodless as the wind—
Yea, thousand, thousand, thousand men shall be
Care-hunted to the grave, by thine and thee.
And thou more crimes and criminals shalt make,
Than all earth's monsters heretofore have made:
Hell from beneath shall rise to bless thee, Snake!
And Death, to sum his profits by thy trade,
Count through all ages past, their men and states betray'd.”
Every child hopeless, because thou art vile;
For thou art thy own victim, watch'd by me,
And I sheath vengeance in a dreadful smile.
But ere I bless thy curses for mankind,
And make them curses infinite to thee,
Thousands of thousands, foodless as the wind—
Yea, thousand, thousand, thousand men shall be
Care-hunted to the grave, by thine and thee.
And thou more crimes and criminals shalt make,
Than all earth's monsters heretofore have made:
Hell from beneath shall rise to bless thee, Snake!
And Death, to sum his profits by thy trade,
Count through all ages past, their men and states betray'd.”
| The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott | |