(Selected extracts from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Poe-et's Nightmare" (1916))
When from my fellows to the grove I stray�d,
In solitude and dusk to meditate
On things forbidden, and to pierce the veil
Of seeming good and seeming beauteousness
That covers o�er the tragedy of Truth.
Hither and thither through infinity
Of light and darkness, strangely intermix�d;
Wherein all entity had consciousness,
Without th� accustom�d outward shape of life.
Of these swift circling currents was my soul,
Free from the flesh, a true constituent part;
Nor felt I less myself, for want of form.
Then clear�d the mist, and o�er a star-strown scene
Divine and measureless, I gaz�d in awe.
Alone in s***e, I view�d a feeble fleck
Of silvern light, marking the narrow ken
Which mortals call the boundless universe.
Borne on the wings of stark immensity,
A touch of rhythm celestial reach�d my soul;
Thrilling me more with horror than with joy.
Omnia risus et omnia pulvis et omnia nihil.
When from my fellows to the grove I stray�d,
In solitude and dusk to meditate
On things forbidden, and to pierce the veil
Of seeming good and seeming beauteousness
That covers o�er the tragedy of Truth.
Hither and thither through infinity
Of light and darkness, strangely intermix�d;
Wherein all entity had consciousness,
Without th� accustom�d outward shape of life.
Of these swift circling currents was my soul,
Free from the flesh, a true constituent part;
Nor felt I less myself, for want of form.
Then clear�d the mist, and o�er a star-strown scene
Divine and measureless, I gaz�d in awe.
Alone in s***e, I view�d a feeble fleck
Of silvern light, marking the narrow ken
Which mortals call the boundless universe.
Borne on the wings of stark immensity,
A touch of rhythm celestial reach�d my soul;
Thrilling me more with horror than with joy.
Omnia risus et omnia pulvis et omnia nihil.