THE FEAR OF MADNESS.
WRITTEN WHILE CONFINED TO HER BED, DURING HER LAST ILLNESS,
There is a something which I dread,
It is a dark, a fearful thing;
It steals along with withering tread,
Or sweeps on wild destruction's wing.
It is a dark, a fearful thing;
It steals along with withering tread,
Or sweeps on wild destruction's wing.
That thought comes o'er me in the hour
Of grief, of sickness, or of sadness;
'Tis not the dread of death—'tis more,
It is the dread of madness.
Of grief, of sickness, or of sadness;
'Tis not the dread of death—'tis more,
It is the dread of madness.
O! may these throbbing pulses pause,
Forgetful of their feverish course;
May this hot brain, which, burning, glows
With all its fiery whirlpool's force,
Forgetful of their feverish course;
May this hot brain, which, burning, glows
With all its fiery whirlpool's force,
Be cold, and motionless, and still,
A tenant of its lowly bed,
But let not dark delirium steal—
··········
[Unfinished.]
A tenant of its lowly bed,
But let not dark delirium steal—
··········
[Unfinished.]
1825.