I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, 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
The bright sun was extinguish'd, 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
— Opening lines
Darkness is an 1816 epic gothic poem written by Lord Byron in which he describes an apocalyptic vision where the earth’s sun goes out and all life ceases to exist.
Tropes:
- After the End: The poem describes the end of the world after the sun has gone out.
- Artistic License – Biology: Even if the sun were to suddenly disappear, not all life would die out as creatures that live at the very bottom of the ocean where sunlight does not reach would be able to continue surviving for millions or billions of years due to heat being emitted from the earth’s core - not that Lord Byron could possibly have known about them in 1816, but science marches on.
- Death World: The Earth becomes this and eventually all human, animal and plant life dies out.
- All Animals Are Domesticated: After the sun goes out and the earth is cast into permanent night, all the animals (including snakes) become tame and timid, seeking comfort from the humans only to be killed and eaten.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: The opening line suggests that Byron's dream was a Portent of Doom.
- End of the World as We Know It: The earth becomes a barren icy rock and all life dies without the sun.
- Glacial Apocalypse: The planet becomingly steadily colder until the earth is left as a lifeless frozen rock.
- Gothic Horror: Byron’s short story contains a great deal of classic gothic horror note .
- Last of Their Kind: The last two humans encounter each other and after starting a fire, die at the sight of each other's faces.
- The Night That Never Ends: Hence the darkness, and the cold that's so intense a volcano is a prime residence.
- One-Word Title: Darkness
- Post-Apocalyptic Dog: All dogs but one turned on their masters, the one dog that remained loyal stayed by his dead master's corpse and protected it from predators and other humans until it died of starvation.
- Snakes Are Sinister: Subverted, with the sun gone all the wild animals became timid and tame, seeking solace among the humans, including snakes, which are typically associated with biblical imagery of evil but are described as hissing but “stingless”.
- The Stars Are Going Out: The poem says that all the stars in the universe are growing darker.
- Technically-Living Zombie: The poem describes the last loyal dog protecting the corpse of its dead master from both beasts and hordes of starving zombie-like humans who are so desperate that they eat the bodies of their fallen kin.
