Alhazred
Swirling desert sands surround my disembodied ka
As I gaze unblinking into the unblinking eye of Ra
I witness visions of distant vistas eclipsed
By the far-flung, ominous shadows of monolithic monuments
Cyclopean, stone idols placed on rock-hewn plinths
Looming over every obliterated edifice
Like jagged crags protruding from a watery abyss
Towering, tottering obelisks engraved with ancient hieroglyphs
Reach toward the sky like the colossal, clutching claws
Of Cthulhu crushing constellations in triumphant paws
Ascending and rending the trembling heavens with might
Impaling frail seraphim on gore-adorned pikes
Traveling across eternal oceans of sand
I ride with the ghouls on the howling night-wind
To the accursed, nameless city that no living man has seen
Save for myself, in the delirium of dreams
The crumbling, nameless city whispered of in dread and fear
Wherein reside secrets no man else has ever dared to hear
Sinister secrets hissed by strange-tongued fiends
And tempestuous, swirling winds enwreathing my tormented dreams
Amid the pathless deserts of Arabia
Where Irem, the City of Pillars, dreams hidden and untouched
Descending countless steps into Stygian depths below
Beneath the ruins of the city abandoned aeons ago
In this unlighted chamber of unveiled mysteries
Through dusky haze, I gaze upon displays that beckon me
Upon the walls of sunless halls, exotic murals spread
Like multi-colored tapestries illumined by some glow ahead
Their images evoking vivid visions of the past
Depictions of an ancient empire, vast and unsurpassed
The mummified remains of some long-forgotten, elder race
Aligned in rows and donning robes, remain bejeweled and encased
Never shall I forget those strange and ancient things entombed
The realm of radiance that emanates beyond a gate of doom
And the hellish night-wind that commands the sands of barren lands
Howling like the Jinn, it resounds throughout the vast expanse
Al Azif!
Swirling desert sands surround my disembodied ka
As I gaze unblinking into the unblinking eye of Ra
I witness visions of distant vistas eclipsed
By the far-flung, ominous shadows of monolithic monuments
Cyclopean, stone idols placed on rock-hewn plinths
Looming over every obliterated edifice
Like jagged crags protruding from a watery abyss
Towering, tottering obelisks engraved with ancient hieroglyphs
Reach toward the sky like the colossal, clutching claws
Of Cthulhu crushing constellations in triumphant paws
Ascending and rending the trembling heavens with might
Impaling frail seraphim on gore-adorned pikes
Traveling across eternal oceans of sand
I ride with the ghouls on the howling night-wind
To the accursed, nameless city that no living man has seen
Save for myself, in the delirium of dreams
The crumbling, nameless city whispered of in dread and fear
Wherein reside secrets no man else has ever dared to hear
Sinister secrets hissed by strange-tongued fiends
And tempestuous, swirling winds enwreathing my tormented dreams
Amid the pathless deserts of Arabia
Where Irem, the City of Pillars, dreams hidden and untouched
Descending countless steps into Stygian depths below
Beneath the ruins of the city abandoned aeons ago
In this unlighted chamber of unveiled mysteries
Through dusky haze, I gaze upon displays that beckon me
Upon the walls of sunless halls, exotic murals spread
Like multi-colored tapestries illumined by some glow ahead
Their images evoking vivid visions of the past
Depictions of an ancient empire, vast and unsurpassed
The mummified remains of some long-forgotten, elder race
Aligned in rows and donning robes, remain bejeweled and encased
Never shall I forget those strange and ancient things entombed
The realm of radiance that emanates beyond a gate of doom
And the hellish night-wind that commands the sands of barren lands
Howling like the Jinn, it resounds throughout the vast expanse
Al Azif!