Darkness

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

The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars

Did wander darkling in the eternal space,

Rayless, and pathless, the icy earth

Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

Morn came and went — and came, and brought no day,

And men forgot their passions in the dread

Of this their desolation; and all hearts

Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:

And they did live by watchfires — and the thrones,

The palaces of crowned kings —

Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum'd,

And men were gather'd round

To look once more into each other's face;

A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;

Forests were set on fire — but hour by hour

They fell and faded — and the crackling trunks

Extinguish'd with a crash — and all was black.