I dreamed that from far off in the darkness I heard groans which seemed to come from every quarter to which I turned. At length they came only out of the gate of a valley which led between two, rocky ridges, where the darkness was illumined only by the red light of a comet, with its sparkling eye, and its tail sweeping back and forth like that of a tiger thirsty for blood. Then several wagons, filled with amputated hands grasping one the other either in prayer or struggle, came softly towards me on unrevolving wheels; and one small wagon also, full of eyes without eyelids, which grimly gazed upon and mirrored one another. A long metal coffin, mounted on the wheels of a gun-carriage, was with difficulty pulled along by iron elephants. On it was inscribed, "The ashes of the tenth army." With frightful exertion it was dragged like a tall tree round the corner of the narrow, rocky valley,--forced to bend by the weight of its contents, and the end of it seeming never to come.
Over the earth, and the sorrow of it, was a round ball of fire like a sun, whence came incessant flashes of lightning. And thirsty people opened vessels full of vipers, which darted out, and stung them to more burning thirst.... A crown, great like a shield, and red-hot, came whirling down with circular motion into a group of soldiers dancing, and scattered them. Upon still-gaping wounds it rained down thistles, which took root quickly and grew; and upon every fallen corpse struck a thunderbolt, and slew it again. I looked up to the heavens for consolation; but there, in the place of the sunset's glow, and the colors of the dawn, and the northern lights, was smoking blood. Swift as an arrow, villages and cities shot through the air like long clouds of ashes; some few streets only, which had been blown up by mining, hanging fast in the sky, with the remnants of houses and of men clinging to them. On a neighboring mountain were glaciers and ice-peaks, upon which children were transfixed; and on the distant summits, whence one could look down upon the battle-field, were parents and children and brides, eagerly gazing upon a mirror held over it.
At length the gate sprang open, and broke in pieces on the battle-field, and the storm of woe burst forth. Then I looked in upon that terrible world, and fell senseless to the earth; for what I saw was too horrible for man to look upon or to remember.
Gradually it seemed to me in my swoon as if this frightful field was moving further and further off, while its sounds of horror died away into songs of swans. And out of the distance floated up to me, on the gentle breezes, the tones of shepherd's flutes,--now far off, now near,--breaking, at length, with full sound upon my ear. And then I was lifted up and borne along on wings of ether, with the light breaking through my closed eyelids. And a creative finger touched me, and high in heaven, upon a green cloud, I opened my eyes. Above me was the blue abyss of the stars; below me stretched a blue ocean, on whose horizon glittered, in the glow of the sunset, the countless islands of the blessed; around me floated scattered cloudlets, tinted with the red and white of roses and of lilies, and with the many colors of manifold flowers.
"Who, O God, has brought me to life out of my woe?" I cried.
"Child of man, it is my Father who has done it," answered a soft voice very near me. But I saw no form of any person; only a halo of glory hovering near me indicated the place of the invisible being.
Under the stare now, on high, rose again, like the songs of the spheres, the old mournful tones. The islands on the horizon began to move, and swim in joy around one another. Many of them dipped into the dark waves, and came up again brilliant as the colors of the morning. Some went down into the sea, and reappeared covered with pearls. But one of them, crowned with cedars and palms and oaks, with strong young giants on its shores, went straight out into the ocean, toward the east.
"Am I upon earth?" I inquired.
"Ask me not," replied the voice, "for I know all thy thoughts, and will answer thee in thy heart. Thou wilt be upon the earth when it rises in the east from the sea; beneath the sea it circles swiftly round the sun. The sea of time is the wave on the ocean of eternity."
As if borne upon a stream, the cedar island came ever nearer to the green cloud. Youths greater than those of earth looked down upon the blue sea, and sang songs of gladness,--or gazed in rapture upon the heavens, and folded their hands in prayer,--or slumbered in arbors of rainbows and tears of joy. Behind them stood lions; above them circled eagles.