When, in the darkness of his dream, He felt the beast scream in his side Shuddering to be born again He crouched in the haunted, shadowy cave. When twin colossi gripped the East And rived the mystical world apart, The rage and fire of a cold star Kindled the darkness at his heart. When darkness settled on the West He heard the beast laugh in his home. The flesh sickened on the bone. He sought the cold, monastic heaven. When the beast was partly freed Hunger of voyage shook the world. Toward Magellanic darkness driven He gyved the mystical world in one. When to perfection of the One He drove his cold and careless thought The beast screamed in his terror of The frozen heaven of the absolute. When Progress in its cold machine Drove all the terror from the wood The fury chained in the drowsy blood Convulsed at the metal smell of sin. When in terror of the beast He prayed protection for his dream. A cold chaotic darkness came; He crouched in the shadowy haunted cave. Now twin colossi rive the world The starship drops its furious rime. The terror out of the darkness comes. The beast is raging in its time. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CASTAWAY by WILLIAM COWPER THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES; THE 10TH SATIRE OF JUVENAL, IMITATED by SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784) THE WHITE SHIPS AND THE RED by ALFRED JOYCE KILMER SUMMER DAWN by WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896) THE SHEPHEARDES CALENDER: OCTOBER by EDMUND SPENSER THE VOYAGE OF MAELDUNE by ALFRED TENNYSON |