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Astrophobos


                  In the Midnight heaven's burning  
                  Through the ethereal deeps afar          
                  Once I watch'd with restless yearning    
                  An alluring aureate star;                
                  Ev'ry eve aloft returning                
                  Gleaming nigh the Arctic Car.            
                                                           
                  Mystic waves of beauty blended            
                  With the gorgeous golden rays            
                  Phantasies of bliss descended            
                  In a myrrh'd Elysian haze.                
                  In the lyre-born chords extended          
                  Harmonies of Lydian lays.                
                                                           
                  And (thought I) lies scenes of pleasure,  
                  Where the free and blessed dwell,        
                  And each moment bears a treasure,        
                  Freighted with the lotos-spell,          
                  And there floats a liquid measure        
                  From the lute of Israfel.                
                                                           
                  There (I told myself) were shining        
                  Worlds of happiness unknown,              
                  Peace and Innocence entwining            
                  By the Crowned Virtue's throne;          
                  Men of light, their thoughts refining    
                  Purer, fairer, than my own.              
                                                           
                  Thus I mus'd when o'er the vision        
                  Crept a red delirious change;            
                  Hope dissolving to derision,              
                  Beauty to distortion strange;            
                  Hymnic chords in weird collision,        
                  Spectral sights in endless range….      
                  Crimson burn'd the star of madness        
                  As behind the beams I peer'd;            
                  All was woe that seem'd but gladness      
                  Ere my gaze with Truth was sear'd;        
                  Cacodaemons, mir'd with madness,          
                  Through the fever'd flick'ring leer'd….
                  Now I know the fiendish fable            
                  The the golden glitter bore;              
                  Now I shun the spangled sable            
                  That I watch'd and lov'd before;          
                  But the horror, set and stable,          
                  Haunts my soul forevermore!              

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Comments

  • Triste
    August 15, 2004
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    This is yet another poem in which you can see Edgar Allan Poe's influence upon Lovecraft. For one, the style and wording of this is very similar, and the dark imagery in the last stanza reminds me of some of Edgar's own visions. Also, though, and more specifically, was the line referring to "the lute of Israfel"... as Poe had a poem entitled Israfel. I loved the flow and meter of this, and how it was consistent to the events ocurring behind the words, as Sinfiend mentioned. Overall, this is probably a favorite poem of mine, at least among Lovecraft's works.

  • Sinfiend
    July 19, 2004
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    This brings to mind images of peace, first. Mellow, dark serentiy, glittering with specks of starlights and shrouded in the blanket of clouds. Returning every night to see this star, maybe because it is the one constant in his life, or at least night. Dreaming of the world, or worlds, beyond the star, what may lay there, and whether or not they are capable of feeling the same. Then, the last verse becomes a complete turnabout. Peace turns to shock, and hope to horror. Fevered images of chaos and demons, strife and devils. This write stirs both polars of the emotional prism.
    I believe the meaning of this to be about the consequences of hope. He so firmly believed that peace and purity lay beyond the star, that the thought or image of anything else scarred him so deeply that the shattered dreams troubles him forever. I think this is kind of a warning. One reminding us of the fallacies of hope, and what can happen if we place them too deeply upon one object.
    I particularly liked the rhythm of this, it seemed to follow a kind of bouncy, joyous beat at first, then a faster, more malicious one at the end. The images his wording evoke do the write justice, bring into my mind almost exactly what I believe he meant to convey.
    I enjoyed this read. I like the message of it as well, maybe it was meant to be more of a lesson than a poem. Either way, it is a great write, and worthy of anyone's praise.