Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;
Bright as the lightning in the collied night,
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,
And ere a man hath power to say “Behold!”
The jaws of darkness do devour it up:
So quick bright things come to confusion.
Bright as the lightning in the collied night,
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,
And ere a man hath power to say “Behold!”
The jaws of darkness do devour it up:
So quick bright things come to confusion.
There’s a crushing and a crashing—there’s a flaring and a flashing,
There’s a rushing and a dashing, as if crowds were hurrying by—
There’s a screaming and a shouting, as a multitude was routing,
And phantom forms were flouting the blackness of the sky,
And in mockery their voices are lifted wild and high,
As they lilt a merry measure while they fly.
There’s a rushing and a dashing, as if crowds were hurrying by—
There’s a screaming and a shouting, as a multitude was routing,
And phantom forms were flouting the blackness of the sky,
And in mockery their voices are lifted wild and high,
As they lilt a merry measure while they fly.
J. L. Forrest.
