CHARLESTON, SEPTEMBER 1, 1886 AN hour ago the lulling twilight leant Above us like a gentle nurse who slips A slow palm o'er our eyes, in soft eclipse Of feigned slumber of most sweet content. The fragrant zephyrs of the tropic went And came across the senses, like to sips Of lovers' kisses, when upon her lips Silence sets finger in grave merriment. Then -- sudden -- did the earth moan as it slept, And start as one in evil dreams, and toss Its peopled arms up, as the horror crept, And with vast breast upheaved and rent across, Fling down the storied citadel where wept, And still shall weep, a world above its loss. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RONDEL by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE SONGS OF LABOR: DEDICATION by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER SELFISHNESS by MARGARET E. BRUNER A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 18 by THOMAS CAMPION HEART'S EASE by CAROLINE CLIVE |