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[1]Of beautiful Gomorrah! O! the wave
Is now upon thee – but too late to save!—
Sound loves to revel in a summer night:
Witness the murmur of the grey twilight
[2]That stole upon the ear, in Eyraco,
Of many a wild star-gazer long ago –
That stealeth ever on the ear of him
Who, musing, gazeth on the distance dim,
And sees the darkness coming as a cloud –
[3]Is not its form – its voice – most palpable and loud?
But what is this? – it cometh, and it brings
A music with it – 'tis the rush of wings –
A pause – and then a sweeping, falling strain
And Nesace is in her halls again.
- ↑ O! the wave: Ula Deguisi is the Turkish appellation; but, on its own shores, it is called Bahar Loth, or Almotanah. There were undoubtedly more than two cities engulphed in the "dead sea." In the valley of Siddim were five – Adrah, Zeboin, Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah. Stephen of Byzantium mentions eight, and Strabo thirteen, (engulphed) — but the last is out of all reason.It is said, (Tacitus, Strabo, Josephus, Daniel of St. Saba, Nau, Maundrell, Troilo, D'Arvicus) that, after an excessive drought, the vestiges of columns, walls, &c. are seen above the surface. At any season, such remains may be discover'd by looking down into the transparent lake, and at such distances as would argue the existence of many settlements in the space now usurped by the "Asphaltites."
- ↑ Eyraco: Chaldea.
- ↑ Most palpable and loud: I have often thought I could distinctly hear the sound of the darkness as it stole over the horizon.
