25. 'When the consuming flames had wrapped ye round, The hope which I had cherished went away; I fell in agony on the senseless ground, And hid mine eyes in dust, and far astray My mind was gone, when bright, like dawning day, _4670 The Spectre of the Plague before me flew, And breathed upon my lips, and seemed to say, "They wait for thee, beloved!"--then I knew The death-mark on my breast, and became calm anew. 26. 'It was the calm of love--for I was dying. _4675 I saw the black and half-extinguished pyre In its own gray and shrunken ashes lying; The pitchy smoke of the departed fire Still hung in many a hollow dome and spire Above the towers, like night,--beneath whose shade _4680 Awed by the ending of their own desire The armies stood; a vacancy was made In expectation's depth, and so they stood dismayed. 27. 'The frightful silence of that altered mood, The tortures of the dying clove alone, _4685 Till one uprose among the multitude, And said--"The flood of time is rolling on; We stand upon its brink, whilst THEY are gone To glide in peace down death's mysterious stream. Have ye done well? They moulder, flesh and bone, _4690 Who might have made this life's envenomed dream A sweeter draught than ye will ever taste, I deem. 28. '"These perish as the good and great of yore Have perished, and their murderers will repent,-- Yes, vain and barren tears shall flow before _4695 Yon smoke has faded from the firmament Even for this cause, that ye who must lament The death of those that made this world so fair, Cannot recall them now; but there is lent To man the wisdom of a high despair, _4700 When such can die, and he live on and linger here. 29. '"Ay, ye may fear not now the Pestilence, From fabled hell as by a charm withdrawn; All power and faith must pass, since calmly hence In pain and fire have unbelievers gone; _4705 And ye must sadly turn away, and moan In secret, to his home each one returning; And to long ages shall this hour be known; And slowly shall its memory, ever burning, Fill this dark night of things with an eternal morning. _4710 30. '"For me that world is grown too void and cold, Since Hope pursues immortal Destiny With steps thus slow--therefore shall ye behold How those who love, yet fear not, dare to die; Tell to your children this!" Then suddenly _4715 He sheathed a dagger in his heart and fell; My brain grew dark in death, and yet to me There came a murmur from the crowd, to tell Of deep and mighty change which suddenly befell.