Shapes and Signs

James Clarence Mangan

I see black dragons mount the sky,
I see earth yawn beneath my feet—
I feel within the asp, the worm
That will not sleep and cannot die,
Fair though may show the winding-sheet!
I hear all night as through a storm
Hoarse voices calling, calling
My name upon the wind—
All omens monstrous and appalling
Affright my guilty mind.

I exult alone in one wild hour—
That hour in which the red cup drowns
The memories it anon renews
In ghastlier guise, in fiercer power—
Then Fancy brings me golden crowns,
And visions of all brilliant hues
Lap my lost soul in gladness,
Until I awake again,
And the dark lava-fires of madness
Once more sweep through my brain.