Darkness by Lord Byron.



    Darkness



    I had a dream, which was not all a dream.



    The bright sun was extinguishd, and the stars



    Did wander darkiling in the eternal space,



    Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth



    Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;



    Morn came, and wentand came, and brought no day,



    And men forgot their passions in the dread



    Of this their desolation and all hearts



    Were chilld into a selfish prayer for light:



    And they did live by watchfiresand the thrones,



    The palaces of crowned kingsthe huts,



    The habitations of all things which dwell,



    Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,



    And men were gathered round their blazing homes



    To look once more into each others face;



    Happy were those who dwelt within the eye



    Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:



    A fearful hope was all the world containd;



    Forests were set on firebut hour by hour



    They fell and fadedand the crackling trunks



    Extinguishd with a crashand all was black.



    The brows of men by the despairing light



    Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits



    The flashes fell upon them; some lay down



    And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest



    Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smiled;



    And others hurried to and fro, and fed



    Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up



    With mad disquietude on the dull sky,



    The pall of a past world; and then again



    With curses cast them down upon the dust,



    And gnashd their teeth and howld: The wild birds shriekd,



    And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,



    And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes



    Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawld



    And twined themselves among the multitude,



    Hissing, but stinglessthey were slain for food:



    And War, which for a moment was no more,



    Did glut himself again;a meal was bought 



    With blood, and each sate sullenly apart



    Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left;



    All earth was but one thoughtand that was death,



    Immediate and inglorious; and the pang



    Of famine fed upon all entrailsmen 



    Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;



    The meagre by the meagre were devoured,



    Even dogs assaild their masters, all save one,



    And he was faithful to a corse, and kept



    The birds and beasts and famishd men at bay,



    Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead



    Lured their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,



    But with a piteous and perpetual moan,



    And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand



    Which answered not with a caresshe died.



    The crowd was famishd by degrees; but two 



    Of and enormous city did survive,



    And they were enemies; they met beside



    The dying embers of an alter-place,



    Where had been heapd a mass of holy things



    Fr an unholy usage; they raked up,



    And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton hands



    The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath



    Blew for a little life, and made a flame



    Which was a mockery; then they lifted up



    Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld



    Each others aspectssaw, and shriekd, and died



    Even of their mutual hideousness they died,



    Unknowing who he was upon whose brow



    Famine had written Fiend. The world was void,



    The populous and the powerfulwas a lump,



    Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless



    A lump of deatha chaos of hard clay.



    The rivers, lakes, and ocean all stood still,



    And nothing stirred within their silent depths;



    Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,



    And their masts fell down piecemeal; as they droppd



    They slept on the abyss without a surge



    The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,



    The moon their mistress had expired before;



    The winds were withered in the stagnant air,



    And the clouds perishd; Darkness had no need 



    Of aid from themShe was the universe.