quote · Legacy record
So in the faces of all these there grew, As by one impulse, a dark, freezing awe, Which, with a fearful fascination, drew All eyes towards the altar; damp and raw The air grew suddenly, and no man knew Whether perchance his silent neighbour saw The dreadful thing, which all were sure would rise To scare the strained lids wider from their eyes. The incense trembled as it upward sent Its slow, uncertain thread of wandering blue, As ’twere the only living element In all the church, so deeply the stillness grew; It seemed one might have heard it, as it went, Give out an audible rustle, curling through The midnight silence of the awe-struck air, More hushed than death, though no such life was there.
So in the faces of all these there grew, As by one impulse, a dark, freezing awe, Which, with a fearful fascination, drew All eyes towards the altar; damp and raw The air grew suddenly, and no man knew Whether perchance his silent neighbour saw The dreadful thing, which all were sure would rise To scare the strained lids wider from their eyes. The incense trembled as it upward sent Its slow, uncertain thread of wandering blue, As ’twere the only living element In all the church, so deeply the stillness grew; It seemed one might have heard it, as it went, Give out an audible rustle, curling through The midnight silence of the awe-struck air, More hushed than death, though no such life was there.
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
- Jas. 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 48 · printed citation: Jas. R. Lowell · subject: AWE
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.