tirsdag 1. desember 2009

"THE COURTYARD", BY H.P. LOVECRAFT

It was the city I had known before;
The ancient, leprous town where mongrel throngs
Chant to strange gods, and beat unhallowed gongs
In crypts beneath foul alleys near the shore.
The rotting, fish-eyed houses leered at me
From where they leaned, drunk and half-animate,
As edging through the filth I passed the gate
To the black courtyard where the man would be.

The dark walls closed me in, and loud I cursed
That ever I had come to such a den,
When suddenly a score of windows burst
Into wild light, and swarmed with dancing men:
Mad, soundless revels of the dragging dead -
And not a corpse had either hands or head!

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"The Courtyard" is poem no. IX from the cycle Fungi from Yuggoth.
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3 kommentarer:

  1. The Fungi is the most interesting of Lovecraft's poetic works. Do you know Lin Carter's "Dreams of R'Lyeh?" It's also some of the best Lovecraftian poetic work out there.

    http://lordbassingtonbassington.blogspot.com/2009/04/dreams-of-arkham.html

    SvarSlett
  2. I only know Carter's work through his Lordship's mention of it. I notice that the meter is the same as in The Fungi.

    SvarSlett
  3. Which is hardly a coincidence. "Dreams" is an hommage to "Fungi". But quite a good one!

    SvarSlett

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