When, gathering fast, around, above and under, Long trains of tremulous mist began to creep, Until their complicating lines did steep The orient sun in shadow:-not a sound Was heard; one horrible repose did keep The forests and the floods, and all around Darkness more dread than night was poured upon the ground. III. Hark! 'tis the rushing of a wind that sweeps Earth and the ocean. See the lightnings yawn Deluging Heaven with fire, and the lashed deeps Glitter and boil beneath: it rages on, One mighty stream, whirlwind and waves upthrown, Lightning, and hail, and darkness eddying by. There is a pause-the sea-birds, that were gone Into their caves to shriek, come forth to spy What calm has fall'n on earth, what light is in the sky. IV. For, where the irresistible storm had cloven That fearful darkness, the blue sky was seen Fretted with many a fair cloud interwoven Most delicately, and the ocean green, Beneath that opening spot of blue serene, Quivered like burning emerald calm was spread : On all below; but far on high, between Earth and the upper air, the vast clouds fled, Countless and swift as leaves on autumn's tempest shed. V. For ever, as the war became more fierce Between the whirlwinds and the rack on high, That spot grew more serene; blue light did pierce The woof of those white clouds, which seemed to lie Far, deep, and motionless; while through the sky The pallid semicircle of the moon Passed on, in slow and moving majesty; Its upper horn arrayed in mists, which soon But slowly fled, like dew beneath the beams of noon. VI. I could not choose but gaze; a fascination Dwelt in that moon, and sky, and clouds, which drew My fancy thither, and in expectation Of what I knew not, I remained :-the hue Of the white moon, amid that heaven so blue, Suddenly stained with shadow did appear; A speck, a cloud, a shape, approaching grew, Like a great ship in the sun's sinking sphere Beheld afar at sea, and swift it came anear. VII. Even like a bark, which from a chasm of mountains, Dark, vast, and overhanging, on a river Which there collects the strength of all its fountains, Comes forth, whilst with the speed its frame doth quiver, Sails, oars, and stream, tending to one endeavour; So, from that chasm of light a winged Form On all the winds of heaven approaching ever Floated, dilating as it came: the storm Pursued it with fierce blasts, and lightnings swift and warm. VIII. A course precipitous, of dizzy speed, Suspending thought and breath; a monstrous sight! For in the air do I behold indeed An Eagle and a Serpent wreathed in fight :- And startled with its yells the wild air's solitude. IX. A shaft of light upon its wings descended, And every golden feather gleamed therein. Feather and scale inextricably blended— The Serpent's mailed and many-coloured skin Shone through the plumes its coils were twined within By many a swollen and knotted fold, and high And far, the neck receding lithe and thin, Sustained a crested head, which warily Shifted and glanced before the Eagle's steadfast eye. X. Around, around, in ceaseless circles wheeling With clang of wings and scream, the Eagle sailed Incessantly-sometimes on high concealing Its lessening orbs, sometimes as if it failed, Drooped thro' the air; and still it shrieked and wailed And, casting back its eager head, with beak And talon unremittingly assailed The wreathed Serpent, who did ever seek Upon his enemy's heart a mortal wound to wreak. XI. What life, what power, was kindled and arose Within the sphere of that appalling fray! For, from the encounter of those wondrous foes, A vapour like the sea's suspended spray Hung gathered: in the void air, far away, Floated the shattered plumes; bright scales did leap, Where'er the Eagle's talons made their way, Like sparks into the darkness;—as they sweep, Blood stains the snowy foam of the tumultuous deep. XII. Swift chances in that combat-many a check, And many a change, a dark and wild turmoil; Sometimes the Snake around his enemy's neck Locked in stiff rings his adamantine coil, Until the Eagle, faint with pain and toil, Remitted his strong flight, and near the sea Languidly fluttered, hopeless so to foil His adversary, who then reared on high His red and burning crest, radiant with victory. XIII. Then on the white edge of the bursting surge, Where they had sank together, would the Snake Relax his suffocating grasp, and scourge The wind with his wild writhings; for to break That chain of torment, the vast bird would shake The strength of his unconquerable wings. As in despair, and with his sinewy neck, Dissolve in sudden shock those linkèd rings, Then soar as swift as smoke from a volcano springs. XIV. Wile baffled wile, and strength encountered strength, The Thus long, but unprevailing :the event Hung high that mighty Serpent, and at last Heavily borne away on the exhausted blast. 1 Not literally lifeless, as we find later on; but the word is presumably used to mean without visible sign of life.-ED. |