Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

But still she feared them; for she did not know

How full they feasted and how well they thrive; And 'twas another pang unto her wo

The dread of being eaten up alive!

And then, the looked-for aid, it came so slow!-
Impatiently she wished it would arrive;

And fretfully she chid the long delay;

"I wish that they would come; where can they stay?"

But still they came not, though the second day

Was dragging slowly, since she first awoke

From that dread trance, in which so long she lay — Till from its clammy clasp she wildly broke;The second day was come; and wore away;

Nor heard she jingling keys, nor mattock stroke, Nor voice of eager friends: and now her mind Was wandering, strangely loose and unconfined.

And what she wished to hear she thought she heard; And oft she answered to the voice of men,

Though none were near her, and no breath was stirred, Save her own breathing; which was quickened then

By fierce excitement: like a frightened bird,

Her bosom panted, and she trembled when
She stood to listen to the fancied sound
Of heavy footsteps, beating o'er the ground.

I said that none were near; but there I erred.
The dead were near her; and in the first tier
Her father slept the sleep that ne'er was stirred d;
And slumbered by his side her sister dear.
Alas! they moved not, nor returned a word

In answer to the voice they'd loved to hear,

Though oft she called them;- for her weakened mind Was still more wavering, and her senses blind.

She would not quit the door; - she knew 't would ope. And let her out as it had let her in:

And mid her fancy's strange, deceptive scope,

Whole crowds were coming; for she heard the din. Alas! 'twas Falsehood in the garb of Hope

For Hope and Falsehood are so near akin!

But still she heard; and whilst they seemed to come, She breathed upon her hands they were so numb.

[ocr errors]

The vault was chilly, and she feared she'd freeze,
So languid was the blood in every vein;

But then came back anew her old disease,

[ocr errors]

And all her system was on fire again:

'T was a consuming heat; her trembling knees
Were tottering; they could not sustain

Her sinking form: alone she could not stand,
But leaned against the wall, on her right hand.

By sudden flashes she was wondrous strong,-
Far stronger her disease than nature's strength.
Anon she was all weakness, and along

The passage floor she stretched her weary length; -
For passages were there; they wound among
The piled-up coffins, with such narrow brendth,
That scarcely room was left for her to lay
Until her fits of faintness passed away.

And now her hunger-pangs increase apace;
Unheeded were they till they urgent grew;

And

raging savagely, they soon erase

Her olden terrors for her tortures new. Alas! no food was there within the place,

But such from which she loathingly withdrew: Fierce famine forced her; and, in mad despair, She ate her shoulder till the bone was bare!

Though Hunger gnawed ner, it was not the worst Of all the pangs by which she was assailed: The burning fever had produced a thirst,

Whose craving agonies o'er all prevailed: And she who lately was so kindly nursed, And in the lap of luxury regaled

She now was famishing; and her swollen tongue, For want of moisture, to her dry throat clung:

And in her misery she longed for death

Then changed her longing, with no reason why;

She felt unwilling to resign her breath,

And hurried from the thought that she must die: Anon she wished again to be beneath

Her empty coffin lid; and there to lie,

And never, never wake; she asked of Heaven
Annihilation - could that boon be given.

Annihilation!-'t were a glorious boon;—
But what we welcome most is most denied.
The awful future is before us: soon

Must all its dread reality be tried:

And as our souls are in or out of tune,

Or joy or sorrow 't is their doom to bide. No choice is left us; for, poor mortals! we Have no exemption from eternity.

She was so sick of life, in any form

To change existence was to change her wo; And when her worthless flesh had fed the worm,

She wished her spirit with her body low;'T would be for ever free from every storm,

Which through the future might with fury blow; Nor heaven nor hell had she desire to see;

She only coveted nonentity.

There once was war in heaven; and this she knew,
There might be war again; or so she thought –
Some second Satan, with ambitious view,

Might head his angels, and have battles fought; Rebellious banners might be streaming through

The realms of bliss which weary mortals sought; And so she would not seek them, nor be blessed; She only wanted rest she wanted rest!

If Death, so dreadful, were a dreamless sleep,
How sweetly pleasant would his summons seem!
To steep our stormy souls, and bury deep

Their surging sorrows in some Lethe stream!

Whence have we wandered?-to the vault we sweep ;The maid is slumbering, and she dreams a dream:

She sees around her, in profusion spread,

A sumptuous feast of wine, and oil, and bread.

And, oh! she hears the music of a rill;

Its gushing gurgle, as it runs to waste;
She thought 't was sinful, and she flew to fill
A brimming goblet, and the same to taste:
Alas! 't was tasteless! though she swallowed still
Cup after cup, in her voracious haste,

It would not quench her thirst; and, with a sigh,

She sprang into the brook-but still her throat was dry!

And yet she hungry was, though fast she fed

On every eatable that met her sight;
The wine was virtueless, and the fresh bread
Gave to her palsied palate no delight:
And oft she changed the dish, as fancy led,

Or some sweet savor did her sense invite;

But still her thirst remained-her hunger raged,

[ocr errors]

The more she ate and drank, the less were they assuaged:

Her dearest friends were near her; they did look
With faces of affection, as of yore;

And eagerly their trembling hands she took,
But could not feel them as they felt before:
And then a troublous thought her senses shook;
It pierced her slumbering spirit to the core;
As naught but truth could pierce; for it did seem,
While she was dreaming, that she dreampt a dream;

And that 't was all a vision which she saw

Her loving friends, the feast, and running rill

And that she yet was shut within the maw

Of some drear cave, whose door was fastened still; And with the thought there came the sense of awe

A sickening shudder, strangely cold and chill:

She started in her sleep-awoke - and knew
The best she dreampt was false, the worst was true!

The worst she dreampt was true!— The seventh day
Was now approaching to a gloomy close:

« AnteriorContinuar »