Try this riddle out.

[Lenna]

Covered with sackcloth vile they seemed to me,
And one sustained the other with his shoulder,
And all of them were by the bank sustained.
But taken from me was this drowsiness
Suddenly by a people, that behind
Our backs already had come round to us.
Even as our eye did not uplift itself
Aloft, being fastened upon earthly things,
So justice here has merged it in the earth.
Appeared to me with laden and living boughs
Another apple-tree, and not far distant,
From having but just then turned thitherward.
And I, who stood intent upon beholding,
Saw people mudbesprent in that lagoon,
All of them naked and with angry look.
Shadows borne onward by the aforesaid stress.
Whereupon said I: Master, who are those
People, whom the black air so castigates?
And he to me: The grievous quality
Of this their torment bows them so to earth,
That my own eyes at first contended with it;

I believe I may have it. I came across this while doing some looking into the bible stories that may fit.

The prophet Jeremiah talks about his experience watching the punishment of those he feels sorry for due to the famine that god has put upon them:

Jeremiah 14:1
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jeremiah 14:2
Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. [the use of the word black leads me to understand that this may be a link. The black air would be in reference to the fact there is no rain, leaving dust and hunger lurking in the air. Also referencing to death.]


Jeremiah 14:3
And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. [This paragraph leads me to believe it has something to do with the fact they are all by the bank in the riddle. They continue to return in hope of the water returning, therefore sustaining their visits.]

Jeremiah 14:11
Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
[This line is what leads me to believe that Jeremiah felt sorry for the people within the torment of the famine. That God had to tell him of their bad deeds to make him understand why he was forcing his punishments on them.]

Jeremiah 15:1
Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. [This paragraph gives me the impression that god does not want to view his creations, and then casts on his feelings towards Jeremiah, trying to make him despise these people for their sins.]

Jeremiah 16:3
For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jeremiah 16:4
They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. [These last paragraphs show the intent of Gods punishment. Which in the riddle he speaks of the grevious quality of their torment bows them to this earth. Again referring back to the famine they are struggling to cope with.]

Edit: This last paragraph can also refer to the torment of the earth thing. As he said they shall be dung on the face of the earth if dead, leaving them to be the worlds scum tormenting and disturbing the peace of the city itself.

I really hope this is it I spent ages looking through bible stories and this is the only one that fits the riddle.