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McDonald Clarke. (1798–1842)

6060

Whilst twilight’s curtain spreading far,
Was pinned with a single star.1

Death in Disguise. Line 227. (Boston edition, 1833.)

6061

Ha! see where the wild-blazing Grog-shop appears,
As the red waves of wretchedness swell;
How it burns on the edge of tempestuous years—
The horrible Light-house of Hell!

The Rum-hole.

Thomas Hood. (1799–1845)

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There is a silence where hath been no sound,
There is a silence where no sound may be,—
In the cold grave, under the deep, deep sea,
Or in the wide desert where no life is found.

Sonnet. Silence.

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We watched her breathing through the night,
Her breathing soft and low,
As in her breast the wave of life
Kept heaving to and fro.

The Death-Bed.

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Our very hopes belied our fears,
Our fears our hopes belied;
We thought her dying when she slept,
And sleeping when she died.

The Death-Bed.

Note 1.
Variant: While twilight’s curtain gathering far
Is pinned with a single diamond star.
Mrs. Child says: “He thus describes the closing day:—
‘Now twilight lets her curtain down,
And pins it with a star.’”
See Hood: Dream of Eugene Aram. “And drew my midnight curtain with fingers bloody red.” Cf. W. R. Alger, The Use of the Moon.
The moon is a silver pinhead vast
That holds the heavens tent-hangings fast. [back]