Haunted Spot by Emma Lazarus

The close-twined branches interlock o’erhead,

‘Twixt leaf and leaf no ray, no glimpse of blue;

From the live roof is gray green twilight shed,

Heavily clings at noon the dull chill dew;

The snake-like roots of the large trees break through

The black, moist sod; rank weeds spread everywhere,

Damp shadow and mirk vapors fill the air.
A yellowish pool hath slowly filtered here

From drip and ooze and frequent wash of rains:

No lapse of living waters greets the ear,

Thick crust of slime its sluggish surface stains.

Here Silence dwells — a vague, wild terror gains

The soul before this mystery divine,

Evil in action, evil in design.
The poisoned flower hath overwrought the brain.

The wood seems peopled with strange images,

Huge forms uncouth in slow unending train,

Life’s terrors and its nameless miseries,

Now like a sullen mist between the trees,

Now close and threatening, distinct and near,

While hateful discords grate upon the ear.
Sin, madness, poverty, disease and age,

And, halting last, the unmixed evil, death.

How near to her they come, life’s heritage

Of ancient ills! No outlet openeth:

Her wild cry echoes far above, beneath,

Fills the thick air with trouble, wanes and dies,

Meeting the hollow earth and empty skies.