Hells Gate

Onward led the road again
Through the sad uncoloured plain
Under twilight brooding dim,
And along the utmost rim
Wall and rampart risen to sight
Cast a shadow not of night,
And beyond them seemed to glow
Bonfires lighted long ago.
And my dark conductor broke
Silence at my side and spoke,
Saying, „You conjecture well:
Yonder is the gate of hell.”

All as yet the eye could see
The eternal masonry,
But beneath it on the dark
To and fro there stirred a spark.
And again the sombre guide
Knew my question, and replied:
At hell gate the damned in turn
Pace for sentinel and burn.

Dully at the leaden sky
Staring, and with idle eye
Measuring the listless plain,
I began to think again.
Many things I thought of then,
Battle, and the loves of men,
Cities entered, oceans crossed,
Knowledge gained and virtue lost,
Cureless folly done and said,
And the lovely way that led
To the slime pit and the mire
And the everlasting fire.
And against a smoulder dun
And a dawn without a sun
Did the nearing bastion loom,
And across the gate of gloom
Still one saw the sentry go,
Trim and burning, to and fro,
One for women to admire
In his finery of fire.

Ever darker hell on high
Reared its strength upon the sky,
And our footfall on the track
Fetched the daunting echo back.

And the hollowness of hell
Sounded as its master fell,
And the mourning echo rolled
Ruin through his kingdom old.
Tyranny and terror flown
Left a pair of friends alone,
And beneath the nether sky
All that stirred was he and I.

Silent, nothing found to say,
We began to back away;
And the ebbing lustre died
From the soldier at my side,
As in all his spruce attire
Failed the everlasting fire.
Midmost of the homeward track
Once we listened and looked back;
But the city, dusk and mute,
Slept, and there was no pursuit.
AE HOUSMAN 1941

Contributions:
"Severed Roots" by Kraftamt 2021 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0)

DARKWORLD AFTERMATH SEQUENCE 7B: HELLS GATE with Kraftamt (Karstenholymoly)

A brand new tune here by myself in collaboration with Cybernetika, finishing and completing a tune Cybernetika started nearly 4 years ago.  Huge one this, we'll work out something for a release, but for now enjoy!

Tune is available for download for all Patrons on https://www.patreon.com/Shivaxi

DARKWORLD AFTERMATH SEQUENCE 7B: HELLS GATE with Kraftamt (Karstenholymoly)

THE DARKWORLD PROJECT 4

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