- Up rose Lenore as the red morn wore,
- From weary visions starting:
- "Art faithless, William, or, William, art dead?
- 'Tis long since thy departing."
- For he, with Frederick's men of might,
- In fair Prague waged the uncertain fight;
- Nor once had he writ in the hurry of war,
- And sad was the true heart that sickened afar.
- The Empress and the King,
- With ceaseless quarrel tired,
- At length relaxed the stubborn hate
- Which rivalry inspired:
- And the martial throng, with laugh and song,
- Spoke of their homes as they rode along,
- And clank, clank, clank! came every rank,
- With trumpet-sound that rose and sank.
- And here and there and everywhere,
- Along the swarming ways,
- Went old man and boy, with the music of joy,
- On the gallant bands to gaze;
- And the young child shouted to spy the vaward,
- And trembling and blushing the bride pressed forward:
- But ah! for the sweet lips of Lenore
- The kiss and the greeting are vanished and o'er.
- From man to man all wildly she ran
- With a swift and searching eye;
- But she felt alone in the mighty mass,
- As it crushed and crowded by:
- On hurried the troop, -- a gladsome group, --
- And proudly the tall plumes wave and droop:
- She tore her hair and she turned her round,
- And madly she dashed her against the ground.
- Her mother clasped her tenderly
- With soothing words and mild:
- "My child, may God look down on thee, --
- God comfort thee, my child."
- "Oh! mother, mother! gone is gone!
- I reck no more how the world runs on:
- What pity to me does God impart?
- Woe, woe, woe! for my heavy heart!"
- "Help, Heaven, help and favour her!
- Child, utter an Ave Maria!
- Wise and great are the doings of God;
- He loves and pities thee."
- "Out, mother, out, on the empty lie!
- Doth he heed my despair, -- doth he list to my cry?
- What boots it now to hope or to pray?
- The night is come, -- there is no more day."
- "Help, Heaven, help! who knows the Father
- Knows surely that he loves his child:
- The bread and the wine from the hand divine
- Shall make thy tempered grief less wild."
- "Oh! mother, dear mother! the wine and the bread
- Will not soften the anguish that bows down my head;
- For bread and for wine it will yet be as late
- That his cold corpse creeps from the grim grave's gate."
- "What if the traitor's false faith failed,
- By sweet temptation tried, --
- What if in distant Hungary
- He clasp another bride? --
- Despise the fickle fool, my girl,
- Who hath ta'en the pebble and spurned the pearl:
- While soul and body shall hold together
- In his perjured heart shall be stormy weather."
- "Oh! mother, mother! gone is gone,
- And lost will still be lost!
- Death, death is the goal of my weary soul,
- Crushed and broken and crost.
- Spark of my life! down, down to the tomb:
- Die away in the night, die away in the gloom!
- What pity to me does God impart?
- Woe, woe, woe! for my heavy heart!"
- "Help, Heaven, help, and heed her not,
- For her sorrows are strong within;
- She knows not the words that her tongue repeats, --
- Oh! count them not for sin!
- Cease, cease, my child, thy wretchedness,
- And think on thy promised happiness;
- So shall thy mind's calm ecstasy
- Be a hope and a home and a bridegroom to thee."
- "My mother, what is happiness?
- My mother, what is Hell?
- With William is my happiness --
- Without him is my Hell!
- Spark of my life! down, down to the tomb:
- Die away in the night, die away in the gloom!
- Earth and Heaven, and Heaven and earth,
- Reft of William are nothing worth."
- Thus grief racked and tore the breast of Lenore,
- And busy was her brain;
- Thus rose her cry to the Power on high,
- To question and arraign:
- Wringing her hands and beating her breast, --
- Tossing and rocking without any rest; --
- Till from her light veil the moon shone thro',
- And the stars leapt out of the darkling blue.
- But hark to the clatter and the pat pat patter!
- Of a horse's heavy hoof!
- How the steel clanks and rings as the rider springs!
- How the echo shouts aloof!
- While slightly and lightly the gentle bell
- Tingles and jingles softly and well;
- And low and clear through the door plank thin
- Comes the voice without to the ear within:
- "Holla! holla! unlock the gate;
- Art waking, my bride, or sleeping?
- Is thy heart still free and still faithful to me?
- Art laughing, my bride, or weeping?"
- "Oh! wearily, William, I've waited for you, --
- Woefully watching the long day thro', --
- With a great sorrow sorrowing
- For the cruelty of your tarrying."
- "Till the dead midnight we saddled not, --
- I have journeyed far and fast --
- And hither I come to carry thee back
- Ere the darkness shall be past."
- "Ah! rest thee within till the night's more calm;
- Smooth shall thy couch be, and soft, and warm:
- Hark to the winds, how they whistle and rush
- Thro' the twisted twine of the hawthorn-bush."
- "Thro' the hawthorn-bush let whistle and rush, --
- Let whistle, child, let whistle!
- Mark the flash fierce and high of my steed's bright eye,
- And his proud crest's eager bristle.
- Up, up and away! I must not stay:
- Mount swiftly behind me! up, up and away!
- An hundred miles must be ridden and sped
- Ere we may lie down on the bridal-bed."
- "What! ride an hundred miles tonight,
- By thy mad fancies driven!
- Dost hear the bell with its sullen swell,
- As it rumbles out eleven?"
- "Look forth! look forth! the moon shines bright:
- We and the dead gallop fast thro' the night.
- 'Tis for a wager I bear thee away
- To the nuptial couch ere the break of day."
- "Ah, where is the chamber, William dear,
- And William, where is the bed?"
- "Far, far from here: still, narrow, and cool;
- Plank and bottom and lid."
- "Hast room for me?" -- "For me and thee;
- Up, up to the saddle right speedily!
- The wedding-guests are gathered and met,
- And the door of the chamber is open set."
- She busked her well, and into the selle
- She sprang with nimble haste, --
- And gently smiling, with a sweet beguiling,
- Her white hands clasped his waist: --
- And hurry, hurry! ring, ring, ring!
- To and fro they sway and swing;
- Snorting and snuffing they skim the ground,
- And the sparks spurt up, and the stones run round.
- Here to the right and there to the left
- Flew fields of corn and clover,
- And the bridges flashed by to the dazzled eye,
- As rattling they thundered over.
- "What ails my love? the moon shines bright:
- Bravely the dead men ride through the night.
- Is my love afraid of the quiet dead?"
- "Ah! no; -- let them sleep in their dusty bed!"
- On the breeze cool and soft what tune floats aloft,
- While the crows wheel overhead? --
- Ding dong! ding dong! 'tis the sound, 'tis the song, --
- "Room, room for the passing dead!"
- Slowly the funeral-train drew near,
- Bearing the coffin, bearing the bier;
- And the chime of their chaunt was hissing and harsh,
- Like the note of the bull-frog within the marsh.
- "You bury your corpse at the dark midnight,
- With hymns and bells and wailing; --
- But I bring home my youthful wife
- To a bride-feast's rich regaling.
- Come, choister, come with thy choral throng,
- And solemnly sing me a marriage-song;
- Come, friar, come, -- let the blessing be spoken,
- That the bride and the bridegroom's sweet rest be unbroken."
- Died the dirge and vanished the bier: --
- Obedient to his call,
- Hard hard behind, with a rush like the wind,
- Came the long steps' pattering fall:
- And ever further! ring, ring, ring!
- To and fro they sway and swing;
- Snorting and snuffing they skim the ground,
- And the sparks spurt up, and the stones run round.
- How flew to the right, how flew to the left,
- Trees, mountains in the race!
- How to the left, and the right and the left,
- Flew the town and market-place!
- "What ails my love? the moon shines bright:
- Bravely the dead men ride thro' the night.
- Is my love afraid of the quiet dead?"
- "Ah, let them alone in their dusty bed!"
- See, see, see! by the gallows tree,
- As they dance on the wheel's broad hoop,
- Up and down, in the gleam of the moon
- Half lost, an airy group: --
- "Ho! ho! mad mob, come hither amain,
- And join in the wake of my rushing train; --
- Come, dance me a dance, ye dancers thin,
- Ere the planks of the marriage-bed close us in."
- And hush, hush, hush! the dreamy rout
- Came close with a ghastly bustle,
- Like the whirlwind in the hazel-bush,
- When it makes the dry leaves rustle:
- And faster, faster! ring, ring, ring!
- To and fro they sway and swing;
- Snorting and snuffing they skim the ground,
- And the sparks spurt up, and the stones run round.
- How flew the moon high overhead,
- In the wild race madly driven!
- In and out, how the stars danced about,
- And reeled o'er the flashing heaven!
- "What ails my love? the moon shines bright:
- Bravely the dead men ride thro' the night.
- Is my love afraid of the quiet dead?"
- "Alas! let them sleep in their narrow bed."
- "Horse, horse! meseems 'tis the cock's shrill note,
- And the sand is well nigh spent;
- Horse, horse, away! 'tis the break of day, --
- 'Tis the morning air's sweet scent.
- Finished, finished is our ride:
- Room, room for the bridegroom and the bride!
- At last, at last, we have reached the spot,
- For the speed of the dead man has slackened not!"
- And swiftly up to an iron gate
- With reins relaxed they went;
- At the rider's touch the bolts flew back
- And the bars were broken and bent;
- The doors were burst with a deafening knell,
- And over the white graves they dashed pell mell:
- The tombs around looked grassy and grim,
- As they glimmered and glanced in the moonlight dim.
- But see! but see! in an eyelid's beat,
- Towhoo! a ghastly wonder!
- The horseman's jerkin, piece by piece,
- Dropped off like brittle tinder!
- Fleshless and hairless, a naked skull,
- The sight of his weird head was horrible;
- The lifelike mask was there no more,
- And a scythe and a sandglass the skeleton bore.
- Loud snorted the horse as he plunged and reared,
- And the sparks were scattered round: --
- What man shall say if he vanished away,
- Or sank in the gaping ground?
- Groans from the earth and shrieks in the air!
- Howling and wailing everywhere!
- Half dead, half living, the soul of Lenore
- Fought as it never had fought before.
- The churchyard troop, -- a ghostly group, --
- Close round the dying girl;
- Out and in they hurry and spin
- Through the dance's weary whirl:
- "Patience, patience, when the heart is breaking;
- With thy God there is no question-making:
- Of thy body thou art quit and free:
- Heaven keep thy soul eternally!"
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