Penny Dreadfuls, 1812 · page 210 of 258
Psyche, and other poems — page 210: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a page of running verse poetry numbered 192, printed on aged paper typical of Victorian penny dreadfuls. The eight lines describe a gruesome scene of death by poisoning, with vivid imagery of "deadly vapours," "vegetable poison," and "putrescence" causing victims to waste away and expire. The dramatic language and gothic subject matter—focusing on the slow, terrible decay of the poisoned—is characteristic of the sensational melodrama found in these cheap serialized publications.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
192 oe Ah, fatal scene ! the deadly vapours rise, And swift the vegetable poison flies, Putrescence loads the rank infected ground, Deceitful calms deal subtle death around; Even as they gaze their vital powers decay, Their wasted health and vigour melt away; _ Till quite extinct the animating fire, Pale, ghastly victims, they at last expire. Comichooksseom