And without end—into my eyes
Eternities now stare.
All is a void—high over me,
About me and deep under me—
Sheer void is yawning, bare;
An endless stillness—voiceless clime—
An endless space—and night—and time.
It is a dream of mortal ties,
The 'naught' known here, not there.
Before tomorrow's sunset dies
Led to this barren void, my eyes—"
He and his voice despair.
Lightly the waves play o'er the deep
And 'neath the tower, near the shore,
The whispering waves that churn and break,
Seem to have lulled the man to sleep.
Upon the stony prison floor.
The clanging din of falling chains
Awakes the warder, who. with a light,
Opens the cell—walks in—remains,
Disturbing not the captive's plight.
From post to post his lantern's rays
Destroy the hallway's cloak of night,
The beams grow dim and dim always
Till far away they lose their strength
And but an endless night at length
Conceals the rest from out of sight.
The captive's staring, rigid gaze
O'er shadowed with a cloudy haze
Sees nothing @ staring into space.
Although the light from the warder's lamp
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