All this I dreamt. Shall any deign to hear br The Dreamer? But the night was moonless, I, br Too weary for the vigil, slept at last, br And in my sleep a vision came to me br Whose voices are forgotten. Yet I heard br Words spoken, though I do not know the tongue; br And faces shown, but whose I cannot say, br So far the skies that held them. As from veils br They stared from out the void—black gossamers br That hang beyond the stars. What Spider wove br The net? And has It snared the gods therein? br What fear is this that shakes the stars? Do they, br Then, tremble in their horror as the flies br Trapped in the web? It was no word of theirs br That crossed the gulf to me. The Message ran br Somewhere between Antares and Altair, br To break on Earth like ocean on a beach; br Yet no man heard save me, and I know not br Its meaning; but beyond the dark I felt br A vaster Dark, whose slow, annuling tide br Creeps nearer to the threshold of the race— br Cold and devouring, exigent and dread, br A symbol and a certainty of doom. br A victim bound, silent as I, the world br Seemed waiting, conscious of the thing foretold: br If I foretell, what ears shall welcome it br Or hand be raised except to threaten me? br Life, passing from mirage to final dust, br Would have no cruel tidings of the goal br Awaiting, but would have her hope sustained br By tongues denying her mortality. br She dreams of an Elysium of peace, br Of pleasures made eternal, and her eyes br Would glut them on illusion. Let her dream! br I will be wise, and show the people not br The shadows of the menace I foresee. br Nay, let them dance, and let the sun-duped throng br Make merry with its harlots to the last.