[Editor: This poem by Mary Eliza Fullerton was published in Moods and Melodies: Sonnets and Lyrics (1908).]
Catastrophe
When Chaos died she left behind a child
To harass Order, from whose hands she breaks
Anon, and runs with storms and grim earthquakes;
An imp of Doom — an idiot urchin wild,
Inspired by Mischief, or by Dread beguiled.
The sleeping demons in the caves she wakes,
Laughs at their thunders while the mountain shakes,
While Life on Death, and Death on Life are piled.
She loves the lightnings, and the black eclipse,
The roar of rending rocks, the maddened sea,
The red eye of the meteor that slips
His girdle; and the lava running free,
The howl of savage floods; till Order grips
Once more the reckless Imp Catastrophe.
Source:
Mary E. Fullerton, Moods and Melodies: Sonnets and Lyrics, Melbourne: Thomas C. Lothian, 1908, p. 20
Editor’s notes:
anon = soon, shortly (it may also mean: at another time, later; an archaic meaning is: at once, immediately)
imp = (in European mythology) a small mischievous sprite, spirit, or supernatural creature (less powerful than a demon, and not as evil, often behaving in an annoying and infuriating manner); a mischievous or naughty child, a brat, a scamp
rend = to tear or break in a violent manner
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