Nightmare

Poem by Paul Verlaine Collection Poems SaturnianThemes DreamsPeriod 19th century

Ballads from Germany,
Which through town and countryside,
And from river to mountain,
And from forests to the vale,
A stallion

Flame-red and ebony-black,
Without bridle, bit, or rein,
Nor whoa! nor whip, drags along
Amid hoarse death-rattles,
Always! always!

A tall felt hat with long plume
Shadowed his eye that kindles
And goes out. Thus, in the mist,
The blue lightning flash bursts forth
And dies from a firearm.

Like the wing of a sea-eagle
That a sudden storm affrights,
Through the air the snow is streaking,
His cloak, lifting, kept flapping
In the wind,

And showed with an air of glory
A torso of shadow and ivory,
While in the black night
Gleamed amid shrill cries
Thirty-two teeth.

Paul Verlaine

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