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Darkness by Lord Byron is a cynical funereal tale of mankind in its desperate final days after an apocalyptic event, inspired by the 1816 Year Without a Summer following the massive eruption of Mount Tambora and other volcanoes. It touches through various allegories such topics as religion, death, social classes, ethics and values.
I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy Earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chilled into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires—and the thrones,
The palaces of crownéd kings—the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;... (Read on.)