Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1817-09-15
D-;RESESS.

stars
Did wander dalkling in eternal space,
Ray,ess. and painless and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moOn-
less air; :.
Morn cam. anil went-and came and
brought no day,
And men forgot their passions IN the
dread
OF this their de.olation, and all hearts
Were child into a selfish prayer tor
light:
And they did live By watchhres--and the
thrones,
The palaces Of crowned kings. 1.-The huts,
The habi,atioDs If AL things which dwell.
Were turnt for beacons; cities were,
consumed,
and men were gathered round their
biszing homes
To lock once more into each othei's
face;
Happy were those Nh0 dweit within the
eve
OF the yolcanos. ard their mountain
torch:
A fearful hope Was OIL TIE wnIio con-
tain'd;
Forests we're set On tre'...but hour oY
hour
They fell and taded,..-and the cracking
trunks
Extin.uish'd wi.h crash. ..asd all was
black.
The hyess Of men by the despairiDg light
Wore an earthly aspect, as by hts
TIE alshss fen upon them; some Law
down did rest
And hid their eyes. and wept; ard some
The. ,hiGs upon their clenched hands,
81 sniied;
Ari Z ers hurried to and fro, and fed
Their frners! pies with fuel and looked
up
With mad disquietude On the dull sky,
The pal Of pat world aud then agsi'
With cures cat then down ul'on III
dust, Mid birds shriek'r
Ard gnash'd their teeth and hom'd:tfe
And. .-rr'fia', did Outer an the g oun'i,
And fsp thair useless wings; the Wild
es, brutes Gcrau I'd
Came tame aud tremulsHS; AID viper
And twined themselves among the mu =
,itude, -food
Kissing out st;nsless They ere slain tor
And war which for 4 moment ras M
more. bought
Did gut himself ssain ia meal wa,
With blood, and each state suiienly a.
part lief /;
Gorging himself in gl"Om; no love was
All earth was bat Que thought and that
was death,
Immediate and ibglorIous; ard the pang
OF famine fed upo' all entrails....men
Died. and ,hei- bones were doubtless IS
their Aesh; ed,
The measre by the mesgre were derour-
Even dogs assal'd their masters, all
save one,
And be was faithful TO a corse, and kept
The bird, aud beasts and famish'd men
al bay, rdsad
Til hunge, chung them, or the dropping
Lured their lank jaws; himself sought
out NO food,
But with piteous and petpetua! moan
And quick desolate cry, licking the
hand died.
Which answered DOT with a caress,.. he
The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but
two
Of an enornoas city did survive,
And they were enemies they met beside
The dying embers Of an altar place
Where hsd been heap'd mass Of holy
things
For an unholy usage; they raked IN,
And shiveiing sCsapcd with their cold
skeleton hands
The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath
Blew for little life. and made fame
Which vas mockery; then they lifted
up
Their eyes as il grew lighter. aud beheid
Each others aspects-.-saw: and Shriek'd
aud died: fdied,
Eyeu OF their mutual hideoasness they
Unkaowing who he was upon whose brow
Famine had written Fiend. the word was
void lump
The populOus aud the powerful was a
Seasonless, herbless, tseeicss, Haniess,
lifeless :.
A':mp of deatli-...A chaos Of hard clay,
The river. lakes, & ocean all stood sitil,
And nothing stirred within their siieut
depths;
Ships sailorless lay otting on the sea,
And their masis slIdewn piecemeal as
they droppr
They slept ca the ,oyss without surge;
\ al 4. l..