The vision of death by Gustave Dore (1868)
4. Version
(Das Original wurde zuerst im Jahr 2020/2021, während dem Höhepunkt der Corona-Pandemie, auf Papier gebracht. Die Originalversion ist in einer Zeit der Unsicherheit entstanden, als die Zahl der Infizierten sehr hoch war. Diese Version ist die überarbeitete und, hoffentlich, die bessere. Teilweise inspiriert durch H.P.Lovecraft)
I)The Herald of The END stood stern-faced, peering coldly over the Rim of the World.Long did he ponder. For aeons, those words, that he would utter.
Then, at last, He uplifted his hands with menace, uttering these words: „Woe upon Mankind, weep they shall, suffer they will Behold! My curse Lieth over hapless Mankind, haunting this creatures without end, wail with grief, weeping with sorrow you Mortals shall. But the light of Hope e´er shall elude you, without Light nor lustre, without joy nor laughter dwell and diminish ye will, crying and mourning, pleading for mercy. But those boons I shall deny you, withold it from your weak grasp. Mankind shall linger hence in tenebrous darkness.
In deep dismay to drown, for evermore to suffer I doom Mankind! Agonies, endless horrors comes soon striding unto your doors and dwellings, on your souls and spirits to feast,seeking ye out. Without pity and mercy IT shall strike down anyone of you!
II) Thus The Spectre of Decay then spoke, with one putrescent finger pointing down to the dwellings of Men; He spake: „Arise,now mine loyal servant, Bringer of Blight!
Arise, and bring Disease and desolation upon this wretched World. A feast shall await thee here. Ravage, ravish and despoil all which still lives and breathes still as thou wilt!“ And As these words where uttered, the Carrion-Hound, putrescent and redolent with Blight stirs, his mouth slavering. Flies swarmed about his hide, grave-worms crawled in his flesh And fast and ferocious strode IT then Downwards, where Man still drew breath, The Beast then smote down ITS victims, at day or night. With fiendish relish IT fell on ITs prey for long, dark and dreadfull Ages, ´till none of those thus doomed could stand or breathe any longer. Writhing they lay. in agony perishing. awhile The Hound then glutted Itself on the Dead and dying. Bloated IT Became, belching forth foul vapours.
III)And at last the Beast rested, well-fed, at the feet, of ITs Master snoring. Deep It Slumbered, well contented after IT had feasted on the on countless corpses and life-spirits. Silent, liveless the world then became. No thing thrived, death-vapours wafted thickly o´er the ruins and the detritus remaining behind, quickly falling apart and decaying. ITs Master stroke gently the Beasts Head, with His emaciated, clawlike fingers He stroke his mangy pelt. The Daemon of Pestilence thus smiled grim and content, while the Hound uplifted his head, nuzzling his Master with deep devotion.
IV) Then The Herald of THE END cackled gleefully and said; „Now hath the END come,no more shall those minuscle beings once called Man befoul this place, crawl upon this little World, lifelessly spinning forever, around its dimming, dying star in the Outer Darkness. As it was once, so shall it be once more at last! Return we shall now thence, now that our work here is finished, for this Great AEon, we too shall rest, until the boundless daemon-sultan, the Nameless One, awakes.“ And so the Herald And His hound, His loyal pet, went over the Rim of the World, descending fast into that Outer Darkness, to the Center of All where only the Lord of All Things reigns, and eldritch, amorphous shades dance and twirl around, whilst a flute whines ist hideous tunes, upheld by nameless paws. There the mindless, sprawling Lord of Chaos mutters and babbles incoherent words and prophecies that It does not understand, lulled in to deep slumber by the cacophonous piping of the stridently screeching flute.“
written by Matthias.K.Maier, Esq.
