Hours of Horror

Here is a found poem for The Pit and the Pendulum

What boots it to tell of the long,

Long hours of horror,

Down- steadily down it crept.

The vibration of the pendulum

Was at right angles to my length.

Down- certainly relentlessly down!

I saw that some ten or twelve vibrations

Would bring the steel in actual contact

With my robe.

Could I have broken the fastenings,

Above the elbow,

I would have seized and attempted

To arrest the pendulum!

Down- still unceasingly-

Still inevitably

Down!

There was a harsh grating of

A thousand thunders!

The fiery walls rushed back!

An outstretched arm

Caught my own,

As I fell,

Fainting,

Into the abyss.

I was sick-

Sick unto the death,

With that long agony.