Dreamland
By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named Night,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim ThuleвБ†вАФ
From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of SpaceвБ†вАФout of Time.
Bottomless vales and boundless floods,
And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,
With forms that no man can discover
For the dews that drip all over;
Mountains toppling evermore
Into seas without a shore;
Seas that restlessly aspire,
Surging, unto skies of fire;
Lakes that endlessly outspread
Their lone watersвБ†вАФlone and dead,
Their still watersвБ†вАФstill and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily.
By the lakes that thus outspread
Their lone waters, lone and deadвБ†вАФ
Their sad waters, sad and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lilyвБ†вАФ
By the mountainsвБ†вАФnear the river
Murmuring lowly, murmuring everвБ†вАФ
By the gray woodsвБ†вАФby the swamp
Where the toad and the newt encampвБ†вАФ
By the dismal tarns and pools
Where dwell the GhoulsвБ†вАФ
By each spot the most unholyвБ†вАФ
In each nook most melancholyвБ†вАФ
There the traveller meets aghast
Sheeted Memories of the PastвБ†вАФ
Shrouded forms that start and sigh
As they pass the wanderer byвБ†вАФ
White-robed forms of friends long given,
In agony, to the EarthвБ†вАФand Heaven.
For the heart whose woes are legion
вАЩTis a peaceful, soothing regionвБ†вАФ
For the spirit that walks in shadow
вАЩTisвБ†вАФoh вАЩtis an Eldorado!
But the traveller, travelling through it,
May notвБ†вАФdare not openly view it;
Never its mysteries are exposed
To the weak human eye unclosed;
So wills its King, who hath forbid
The uplifting of the fringèd lid;
And thus the sad Soul that here passes
Beholds it but through darkened glasses.
By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named Night,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have wandered home but newly
From this ultimate dim Thule.