Sleep. Death. Hilda, I meant go to sleep. Sleep is death.
I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went--and came, and brought no day, And men forgot their passions in the dread. Of this their desolation; and all hearts Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light
And they did live by watchfires--and the thrones, The palaces of crowned kings--the huts, The habitations of all things which dwell, Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum'd,
And men were gather'd round their blazing homes To look once more into each other's face; Happy were those which dwelt within the eye Of the volcanoes, and their mountain-torch
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd; Forests were set on fire--but hour by hour They fell and faded...
...and the crackling trunks Extinguish'd with a crash--and all was black.