Cordula's Web. NOAA. San Juan Islands sunset, Washington.
NOAA Photo Library: line2209. San Juan Islands, Washington. George Leigh. HiRes. Gallery 6
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The Dream (2)

William Preston

Oh, fatal dream! what forms of dire dismay!
Frantic I range beneath the damps of night,
I sat, methought, where death and pale affright
On Clara frowned; I saw the subtle ray

Of life recede; the loved, the lovely lay
Convulsed with pain; no more her eyes were bright,
Her soul, the gentle mansion of delight,
Was reft; the beauteous frame was turned to clay.

With piercing shrieks I tore the silent gloom
Of awful night; the cruel phantom fled.
Yet scarce will fear my waking senses trust;
Still, still, it paints thy beauties turned to dust.

O Clara, Clara, wert thou with the dead,
Thy lover soon would follow to the tomb.

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