Page:Oriental Sketches Dramatic Sketches and Tales.pdf/53

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And a thick darkness falls, and blinding dust, Till suddenly in one tempestuous gust The whirl-wind bursts—drowning the stunning sound Of pealing thunder crashing all around. Unheeded mid the horrid dissonance And smothering sand, the forked lightnings dance; Yet the storm gathers strength, and each wild blast Seems armed with fiercer madness than the last. And still the raging elements contend; And urges on the strife the tempest fiend, Deepening the gloom, and yelling o'er the fanes Where whirl-winds roar, and chaos madly reigns; At length the darkness yields; an awful ray, Of fiery light denotes returning day. And now in flashing torrents o'er the plain Descends like cataracts the tropic rain; The air is cooled, by gentle breezes fanned— The dust disperses, and a zephyr bland, Where late the tempest raged, with wooing breath Draws perfume from each freshly flowering wreath;