Dull fog—grey veil enfolding all, Dim buildings, lurid sunbeam kissed, A skyline rising into mist Where coiling vapors writhe and twist
And dismal dun-toned shadows fall.
Grim tugs that plow the grimy stream With waves cut fanwise by the keel; A bridge, etched bold in lines of steel And smudged with swarming crowds that reel
Like dizzy phantoms through a dream.
Damp breeze that brings a fetid smell, A roar that waxes loud and lulls. Far down below the grey-wing gulls Soar round the gloomy steamer hulls,
All blurred within a hazy hell.
The clanging clamour swells afar; The strife-worn mobs rush madly by; The ghostly city towers high, But, distant in the fading sky,
In holy silence gleams one star.
