Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LOCUST CLOUD, by ROBERT SOUTHEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LOCUST CLOUD, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Onward they came, a dark continuous cloud
Last Line: "sole mover he, and only spring of all."


ONWARD they came, a dark continuous cloud
Of congregated myriads numberless,
The rushing of whose wings was as the sound
Of a broad river, headlong in its course
Plunged from a mountain summit; or the roar
Of a wild ocean in the autumn storm,
Shattering its billows on a shore of rocks.
Onward they came, the winds impell'd them on,
Their work was done, their path of ruin past,
Their graves were ready in the wilderness.

"Behold the mighty army!" Moath cried,
"Blindly they move, impell'd
By the blind element.
And yonder birds, our welcome visitants,
Lo! where they soar above the embodied host,
Pursue their way, and hang upon their rear,
And thin their spreading flanks,
Rejoicing o'er their banquet! Deemest thou
The scent of water on some Syrian mosque
Placed with priest-mummery, and the jargon-rites
Which fool the multitude, hath led them here
From far Khorassan? Allah, who decreed
Yon tribe the plague and punishment of man,
These also hath he doom'd to meet their way:
Both passive instruments
Of his all-acting will,
Sole mover he, and only spring of all."





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