Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79. | | | | Arabia: Desert of Arabia | | The Whirlwind | | Robert Southey (1774–1843) |
| | (From Thalaba the Destroyer, Book IV)
WHILST he spake, Lobaba’s eye, | |
| Upon the distance fixed, | |
| Attended not his speech. | |
| Its fearful meaning drew | |
| The looks of Thalaba; | 5 |
| Columns of sand came moving on, | |
| Red in the burning ray, | |
| Like obelisks of fire, | |
| They rushed before the driving wind. | |
| Vain were all thoughts of flight! | 10 |
| They had not hoped escape, | |
| Could they have backed the dromedary then, | |
| Who in his rapid race | |
| Gives to the tranquil air a drowning force. | |
| |
| High,—high in heaven upcurled | 15 |
| The dreadful sand-spouts moved; | |
| Swift as the whirlwind that impelled their way, | |
| They came toward the travellers! | |
| The old magician shrieked, | |
| And lo! the foremost bursts, | 20 |
| Before the whirlwind’s force, | |
| Scattering afar a burning shower of sand. | | | | |
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