It was a day of gloom, and strange suspense, And feverish, and inexplicable dread, In Herculaneum's walls. The heavy, thick, And torrid atmosphere; the solid, vast, And strong--edg'd clouds, that through the firmament In various and opposing courses moved: The wild scream of the solitary bird That, at long intervals, flew terror-driven On high:--the howling of the red-ey'd dog As he gaz'd trembling on the angry heavens: The hollow moans that swept along the air, Though every wind was lock'd,-portended all That nature with some dire event was big, And labour'd in its birth.