All earth was but one thought-- and that was death
Immediate and inglorious; and the pang
Of famine fed upon their entrails--men
Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;
...
The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two
Of an enormous city did survive,
And they were enemies they met beside
The dying embers of an altar-place
Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things
(For an) unholy usage;
...
Unknowing who he was upon whose brow
Famine had written Fiend. The world was void.
...
The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still...
Seasonless, treeless
And nothing stirr'd within their silent depth...
Manless, lifeless
Darkness had no need of aid from them--