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*LostonWallace:iconLostonWallace:

Loston Wallace  

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Pulp Poets

Journal Entry: Wed May 7, 2008, 1:38 PM
  • Mood: Neutral
Here are some poems from two of my favorite pulp writers, Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. Both men frequently wrote poetry, which was sometimes included within their short stories, or were published in pulp magazines like WEIRD TALES. Many fans have read Howard's CONAN, KULL and SOLOMON KANE stories, and Lovecraft's CALL OF CTHULHU, SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH and THE DUNWICH HORROR stories are still popular tales, but I thought I might present some of their poetry here, which is often overlooked.

Howard wrote hundreds of poems, and many of them offer insight into the mind of the man himself. "The Tempter" almost foreshadows his thoughts of suicide.

The following are a few samples of poetry from these two wordsmiths:

-------------------------------------------------------------


Recompense

by Robert E. Howard

I have not heard lutes beckon me, nor the brazen bugles call,
But once in the dim of a haunted lea I heard the silence fall.
I have not heard the regal drum, nor seen the flags unfurled,
But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world.

I have not seen the horsemen fall before the hurtling host,
But I have paced a silent hall where each step waked a ghost.
I have not kissed the tiger-feet of a strange-eyed golden god,
But I have walked a city's street where no man else had trod.

I have not raised the canopies that shelter revelling kings,
But I have fled from crimson eyes and black unearthly wings.
I have not knelt outside the door to kiss a pallid queen,
But I have seen a ghostly shore that no man else has seen.

I have not seen the standards sweep from keep and castle wall,
But I have seen a woman leap from a dragon's crimson stall,
And I have heard strange surges boom that no man heard before,
And seen a strange black city loom on a mystic night-black shore.

And I have felt the sudden blow of a nameless wind's cold breath,
And watched the grisly pilgrims go that walk the roads of Death,
And I have seen black valleys gape, abysses in the gloom,
And I have fought the deathless Ape that guards the Doors of Doom.

I have not seen the face of Pan, nor mocked the Dryad's haste,
But I have trailed a dark-eyed Man across a windy waste.
I have not died as men may die, nor sin as men have sinned,
But I have reached a misty sky upon a granite wind.


------------------------------------------------------------

The Cats

by H.P. Lovecraft

Babels of blocks to the high heavens towering
Flames of futility swirling below;
Poisonous fungi in brick and stone flowering,
Lanterns that shudder and death-lights that glow.

Black monstrous bridges across oily rivers,
Cobwebs of cable to nameless things spun;
Catacomb deeps whose dank chaos delivers
Streams of live foetor that rots in the sun.

Colour and splendour, disease and decaying,
Shrieking and ringing and crawling insane,
Rabbles exotic to stranger-gods praying,
Jumbles of odour that stifle the brain.

Legions of cats from the alleys nocturnal.
Howling and lean in the glare of the moon,
Screaming the future with mouthings infernal,
Yelling the Garden of Pluto's red rune.

Tall towers and pyramids ivy'd and crumbling,
Bats that swoop low in the weed-cumber'd streets;
Bleak Arkham bridges o'er rivers whose rumbling
Joins with no voice as the thick horde retreats.
Belfries that buckle against the moon totter,
Caverns whose mouths are by mosses effac'd,
And living to answer the wind and the water,
Only the lean cats that howl in the wastes.


--------------------------------------------------------------


The Ghost Kings

by Robert E. Howard


The ghost kings are marching; the midnight knows their tread,
From the distant, stealthy planets of the dim, unstable dead;
There are whisperings on the night-winds and the shuddering stars have fled.

A ghostly trumpet echoes from a barren mountain head;
Through the fen the wandering witch-lights gleam like phantom arrows sped;
There is silence in the valleys and the moon is rising red.

The ghost kings are marching down the ages’ dusty maze;
The unseen feet are tramping through the moonlight’s pallid haze,
Down the hollow clanging stairways of a million yesterdays.

The ghost kings are marching, where the vague moon-vapor creeps,
While the night-wind to their coming, like a thund’rous herald sweeps;
They are clad in ancient grandeur, but the world, unheeding sleeps.


------------------------------------------------------------

Yule Horror

by H. P. Lovecraft

There is snow on the ground,
And the valleys are cold,
And a midnight profound
Blackly squats o'er the wold;
But a light on the hilltops half-seen hints of feastings un- hallowed and old.

There is death in the clouds,
There is fear in the night,
For the dead in their shrouds
Hail the sin's turning flight.
And chant wild in the woods as they dance round a Yule- altar fungous and white.

To no gale of Earth's kind
Sways the forest of oak,
Where the sick boughs entwined
By mad mistletoes choke,
For these pow'rs are the pow'rs of the dark, from the graves of the lost Druid-folk.

----------------------------------------------------------


The Tempter

by Robert E. Howard

In a shadow panorama
Passed life's struggles and its fray.
And my soul tugged with new vigor,
Huger grew the phantom's figure,
As I slowly pulled the trigger,
Saw the world fade swift away.
Through the fogs old Time came striding,
Radient clouds were 'bout me riding,
As my soul went gliding, gliding,
From the shadow into day.

---------------------------------------------------------------

-Loston

Devious Information

  • Current Age: 38
  • Current Residence: NC
  • Interests: Collecting Silver Age comics, Martial Arts, classic science fiction & horror films
  • Favourite movie: King Kong (1933 original)
  • Favourite band or musician: Cole Porter
  • Favourite artist: Wally Wood, John Buscema, Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Mark Schultz, Steve Rude, Doug Wildey
  • Favourite poet or writer: Robert E. Howard; H.P. Lovecraft
  • Favourite style or digital art: Style isn't important. Only the message is important.
  • Favourite cartoon character: Bugs Bunny, Fleischer Superman, Batman (Dini/Timm animated series)
  • Tools of the Trade: 2H pencil, bristol board, Raphael Kolinsky brush, India ink

Devious Comments

*LostonWallace:iconLostonWallace: 1 day 18 hours ago
I've been pretty well--busy, but doing fine. Glad to see you on Deviant, Kim. :)

Loston
~kimdemulder:iconkimdemulder: 2 days 21 hours ago
Hey Loston,

How ya been?
~FIENDISH-ART:iconFIENDISH-ART: May 8, 2008, 5:45:59 AM Mood: Tired
no bother man its awesome : D

--
Down the dark decades of your pain, this will seem like a memory of Heaven.
*Thuddleston:iconThuddleston: Apr 25, 2008, 9:19:09 PM
Thanks for the WATCH!! Love your stuff I'm gonna Watch ya back!!!

--
Between Science and Imagination lies "The What!"
*LostonWallace:iconLostonWallace: Apr 25, 2008, 3:09:04 PM
My pleasure, Scotty.

Loston
*LostonWallace:iconLostonWallace: Apr 25, 2008, 3:07:57 PM
You're welcome, Ielle. :)

Loston
~alanfaria:iconalanfaria: Apr 21, 2008, 5:11:06 AM
Great work Wallace!

--
Alan
FalO aE=)
~scottygod:iconscottygod: Apr 20, 2008, 7:19:18 PM
Thanks for the faves, Loston!
~Ielle77:iconIelle77: Apr 19, 2008, 9:03:51 AM
thanks for the fave loston, you rock!

--
I <3 zombies
~thinktankbob:iconthinktankbob: Apr 18, 2008, 1:08:59 AM
Thanks for the favorite, Loston! I miss having time to be able to sign into Skype. Hopefully once school ends I'll be good for a bit...

--
Bob Dahlstrom: Artist, sometimes writer.
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  • *LostonWallace:iconLostonWallace: Apr 17, 2008, 3:15:48 PM
    Thanks, lysandergray
    ~lysandergray:iconlysandergray: Apr 13, 2008, 2:11:43 AM Mood: Love
    Love your work, Loston. I watch your PJ Q&A thread too, it's made of pure win. :clap:
    *NickMockoviak:iconNickMockoviak: Apr 12, 2008, 10:06:52 AM
    Thanks for dropping by Los.

    --
    Can't spell Nick without "I-N-K". Who's smart now? :D
    Myspace: [link]
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    *mikecharles:iconmikecharles: Apr 6, 2008, 11:51:08 PM
    thanx for droppin by.

    --
    everything is suspect!!!!!!!!!!
    *LostonWallace:iconLostonWallace: Apr 6, 2008, 12:35:09 PM
    It was a pleasure!

    Loston
    *Miliki:iconMiliki: Apr 4, 2008, 3:37:40 PM
    Thanks for stopping by my gallery!

    --
    "There is nature in my ear!" ~ Me at Nasty Bone
    *HasturCTS:iconHasturCTS: Apr 3, 2008, 11:41:52 AM
    Thank you so much for the watching!

    *wanders off mumbling about getting the tentacles out of the silk*

    --
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    ~bruno83:iconbruno83: Apr 2, 2008, 11:30:05 AM Mood: Love
    very, very, very nice works!

    :w00t:
    ~StardustDragon:iconStardustDragon: Mar 26, 2008, 1:35:29 PM
    Incredible Old School Style.

    Browsing your gallery was like reliving by childhood afternoons.

    --
    "Art is a force of nature, the canvas is merely a tool we have used in a futile attempt to domesticate it."
    =theRealJohnnyCanuck:icontheRealJohnnyCanuck: Mar 19, 2008, 7:31:46 PM
    Really awesome gallery. So many terrific piece. You put me to shame!

    Shawn
    ~DryBonesReborn:iconDryBonesReborn: Mar 14, 2008, 2:58:26 PM
    Your welcome. ^_^ Love spidey stuff.

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    [link] You can join now!

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    *LostonWallace:iconLostonWallace: Mar 14, 2008, 2:50:08 PM
    Thanks, DryBones.

    Loston