THE boding sky was charactered with cloud, The scripture of the storm -- but high in air, Where the unfathomed zenith still was bare, A pure expanse of rose-flushed violet glowed And, kindling into crimson light, o'erflowed The hurrying wrack with such a blood-red glare, That heaven, igniting, wildly seemed to flare On the dazed eyes of many an awe-struck crowd. And in far lands folk presaged with blanched lips Disastrous wars, earthquakes, and foundering ships Such whelming floods as never dykes could stem, Or some proud empire's ruin and eclipse: Lo, such a sky, they cried, as burned o'er them Once lit the sacking of Jerusalem! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ODES III, 29 by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS THE TENT ON THE BEACH: 2. THE WRECK OF RIVERMOUTH by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE YEAR OF JUBILEE by HENRY CLAY WORK DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS AT ELLIS ISLAND by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS THE PICTURE OF A FINE GENTLEMAN by SOPHIA (RAYMOND) BURRELL GETTING UP THE WINTER WOOD IN VERMONT by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY |