I.

—Oh the billows of fire!

With maëlstrom-like swirl,

Their surges they hurl

Over roof—over spire,

Mad—masterless—higher,—

Till with rumble—crack—crash,

Down boom with a flash,

Whole columns of granite and marble;—see! see!

Sucked in as a weed on the ocean might be,

Or engulfed as a sail

In the hurricane riot and wreak of the gale!