Page:The city of dreadful night - and other poems (IA cityofdreadfulni00thomrich).pdf/141

 That same night both priest and sage Died accursed in sombre rage. Never more in wild wood green Was that glorious Goddess seen, Never more: and from that day Evil hap and dull decay Fell on countryside and town; Life and vigour dwindled down; Storms in Spring nipped bud and sprout, Summer suns shed plague and drought, Autumn's store was crude and scant, Winter snows beleaguered want; Vines were black at vintage-tide, Flocks and herds of murrain died; Fishing boats came empty home, Good ships foundered in the foam; Haggard traders lost all heart Wandering through the empty mart: For the air hung thick with gloom, Silence, and the sense of doom. But those little children she Had caressed so tenderly Were betrothed that self-same night, Grew up beautiful and bright,