Nauvoo Expositor/The Last Man
For other versions of this work, see The Last Man (Campbell).
Poetry.
The Last Man.
By Thomas Campbell.
All worldly shapes shall meet in gloom, The sun himself shall die,Before this mortal shall assume Its immortality!I saw a vision in my sleep,That gave my spirit strength to sweep Adown the gulf of time!I saw the last of human mould,That shall creation's death behold, As Adam saw her prime!
The sun's eye had a sickly glare, The earth with age was wan;The skeletons of nations were Around that lonely man!Some had expired in flight,—the brandsStill rusted in their bony hands! In plagues and famine some!Earth's cities had no sound nor tread;And ships were drifting with the dead To shores where all was dumb!
Yet prophet like, that lone one stood, With dauntless words and high,That shook the sere leaves from the wood As if a storm pass'd by,—Saying, "We are twins in death proud SunThy face is cold, thy race is run, 'Tis mercy bids thee go.For thou ten thousand thousand yearsHast seen the tide of human tears, That shall no longer flow.
"What though beneath thee man put forth, His pomp, his pride his skill;And arts that made fire, flood, and earth, The vassals of his will;Yet mourn I not thy parted sway,Thou dim, discrowned king of day: For all those trophied artsAnd triumphs that beneath thee sprang,Healed not a passion or a pangEntail'd on human hearts.
"Go, let oblivion's curtain fall Upon the stage of men;Nor with thy rising beams recall Life's tragedy again.Its piteous pageants bring not backNor waken flesh, upon the rack Of pain anew to writhe;Stretch'd in disease's shapes abhorr'd.Or mown in battle by the sword, Like grass beneath the scythe.
"Ev'n I am weary in yon skies To watch thy fading fire;Test of all sunless agonies, Behold me not expire.My lips that speak thy dirge of death,Their rounded grasp and gurgling breath, To see thou shalt not boast.The eclipse of nature speaks my pall,The majesty of darkness shall Receive my parting ghost!
"This spirit shall return to him! That gave its heavenly spark;Yet think not Sun, it shall be dim When thou thyself art dark!No it shall live again, and shineIn bliss unknown to beams of thine, By Him recall'd to breath,Who captive led captivity,Who robbed the grave of victory, And took the sting from Death!
"Go, Sun, while mercy holds me up On nature's awful waste,To drink this last and bitter cup Of grief that man shall taste;Go, tell the night that hides thy face,Thou saw'st the last of Adam's race, On earth's sepulchral clod;The dark'ning universe defyTo quench his immortality, Or shake his trust in God!"