Seem as a beacon on some rock-bound coast,

Which flutters, wanes and disappears almost,

Then with a flash illuminates the shore,

Gleams for a moment and is seen no more;

Or on some starless midnight, when the storm

Dissolves in chaos each familiar form,

And robes the landscape in cimmerian pall,

The lightnings play,—then darkness covers all.

Unlocked by fever and delirium,

The cautious tongue becomes no longer dumb,