We present this work in honor of the 175th anniversary of the poet’s death.

 

I see black dragons mount the sky,
I see earth yawn beneath my feet —
I feel within the asp, the worm
That will not sleep and cannot die,
Fair though may show the winding-sheet!
I hear all night as through a storm
Hoarse voices calling, calling
My name upon the wind—
All omens monstrous and appalling
Affright my guilty mind.

I exult alone in one wild hour —
That hour in which the red cup drowns
The memories it anon renews
In ghastlier guise, in fiercer power —
Then Fancy brings me golden crowns,
And visions of all brilliant hues
Lap my lost soul in gladness,
Until I awake again,
And the dark lava-fires of madness
Once more sweep through my brain.