_The_ Lost Temples of Xantoos

By HOWELL CALHOUN


  Celestial fantasies of deathless night,
    Enraptured colonnades adorned with pearls,
  Resplendent guardians of crimson light,
    Expanse of darkness silently unfurls
  Among colossal ruins on this shore,
    That once was purled by Xantoos' rolling seas;
  Nothing remains upon this barren core
    Of Mars, but your palatial memories.

  Your altars and magnificent black gods
    Still flash beneath the sapphire torches' flames,
  The fragrant ring of sacred flowers nods
    Beneath the monstrous idols' gilded frames.
  Your jeweled gates swing open on their bands
    Of gold; within, a lurid shadow stands.




TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: This etext was produced from Weird Tales October
1936. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.