Etchings in Verse (Underhill)/Desolation

by Andrew Findlay Underhill

SONGS IN MINOR KEYS.

DESOLATION.

IN the Kingdom of the gloaming Where the days are gray, and dim—  Dim, and gray and pensive—Where the dead past's thoughts go roaming Like the fallen seraphim,Once I wandered 'neath the luster Of a spectral, leaden moon—'Neath a moon of lurid luster, Where the sad lights fade and swoon.

And a shape that e'er eluded Waved me on to realms unknown—  Realms of shade and shadowWhere eternal silence brooded, And the rushing clouds alone Gave a hint of life or motion, As they swept forever by,With a restless, reeling motion, Adown the western sky.

There the tops of trees primeval Watched the staring, quiet stars—  Stars serene, and pulseless;There the elements' upheaval Reared grim mountains seamed with scars;And the ghastly, sleeping waters Dozed in pools along the fells;For no breezes stir the waters, And no murmur in them dwells.

And I gazed upon the heaven, And the waters' soundless deeps—  Dank, forlorn, and sullen;At the hills with thunder riven, And the moon-shade on their steeps; At the giant trees that slumbered, Soaring skyward thro' the gloom;At the staring wastes encumbered With the atmosphere of doom.

And I said: "What name is written On yon bleak, and barren sands—  Bleak, and drear, and barren;What clinging curse has smitten These lone, and wasted lands?Has some demon led me hither 'Neath these wan, and baleful spheres?By whose guidance came I hither, To this land of darkened years?"

Then the pealing voice of thunder Rent the canopy of night.  Deep, and loud, and sudden.The hills were rent asunder, And vanished from my sight; The tree-tops waved, and shouted; The barren lowlands moaned;The sweeping whirlwind shouted With a tumult thunder-toned.

And all the lands were leveled To a low and trackless plain—  Lifeless, low, and burning;Where the blighting breezes reveled, And the searching eye in vainLooked for sign of shrub or flower O'er the desert's trackless face;For of tree, and shrub and flower The whirlwind left no trace.

Then I gazed upon the heaven Where the reeling clouds still frowned—  Glaring down in anger;But the secret there engraven Deep within my soul was found; For my heart cried "Desolation! Shattered hopes lie buried here—Yea, the blight of Desolation Hath cursed these kingdoms drear!"

Then I fled afar, and pondered On the marvels I had seen—  Marvels deep and awful!All pale with dread I wandered Mid the terror of the scene,And I shrieked: "The power that reareth And leveleth these hillsIs the evil god that seareth My life and heart with ills!"