I DREAMED, and saw a modern Hell, more dread Than Dante's pageant; not with gloom and glare, But all new forms of madness and despair Filled it with complex tortures, some Earth-bred, Some born in Hell: eternally full-fed Ghosts of all foul disease-germs thronged the air: And as with trembling feet I entered there, A Demon barred the way, and mocking said -- "Through our dim vales and gulfs thou need'st not rove; From thine own Earth and from its happiest lot Thy lust for pain may draw full nourishment, With poignant spice of passion; knowest thou not Fiends wed for hate as mortals wed for love, Yet find not much more anguish? Be content." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE HOUSE OF DUST: 1 by CONRAD AIKEN MUSIC by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET MY FATHER'S FACE by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE MEASURE OF THE YEAR by JAMES GALVIN BONDAGE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SLEEPING TOGETHER by KATHERINE MANSFIELD |