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Then suddenly to wake from sleep,
To gaze round that dim room
We're sure to feel as one whose pulse
Again beats in the tomb,
Swelling with idle life and strength
Within its stifling gloom.
'Twas even so that I awoke
(Sure awake I could not be),
Though with the life-likeness of waking truths
Were all things clothed to me.
'Twas in terror I awoke
Within that chamber dim;
The sweat drop burst on my cold brow,
Dull horror numbed each limb.
In agony my temples beat,
Life only throbbed there;
And creeping cold, like living things,
Stood up each clammy hair.
It seemed as if a spell from hell
Were drugg'd deep with the air;
Yet wherefore should I fear,
To me was all unknown;
For that chamber was, as heretofore,
Dim, desolate, and lone.
