quote · Legacy record
As if a lark should suddenly drop dead While the blue air yet trembled with his song, So snapped at once that music’s golden thread, Struck by a nameless fear, that leapt along From heart to heart, and like a shadow sped With instantaneous shiver through the throng; So that some glanced behind, as half aware A hideous shape of dread were standing there. As when a crowd of pale men gather round, Watching an eddy in the leaden deep, From which they deemed the body of one drowned Will be cast forth; from face to face doth creep An eager dread, that holds all tongues fast bound, Until the horror, with a ghastly leap, Starts up, its dead blue arms stretched aimlessly, Heaved with the swinging of the careless sea.
As if a lark should suddenly drop dead While the blue air yet trembled with his song, So snapped at once that music’s golden thread, Struck by a nameless fear, that leapt along From heart to heart, and like a shadow sped With instantaneous shiver through the throng; So that some glanced behind, as half aware A hideous shape of dread were standing there. As when a crowd of pale men gather round, Watching an eddy in the leaden deep, From which they deemed the body of one drowned Will be cast forth; from face to face doth creep An eager dread, that holds all tongues fast bound, Until the horror, with a ghastly leap, Starts up, its dead blue arms stretched aimlessly, Heaved with the swinging of the careless sea.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- J. R. Lowell (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 189 · printed citation: J. R. Lowell · subject: DREAD—DREADFUL
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.