In the Saddle: A Collection of Poems on Horseback-Riding. VariousЧитать онлайн книгу.

      "Look here, look here – the moon shines clear —

      Full fast I ween we ride;

      Mount and away! for ere the day

      We reach our bridal bed.

      "The black barb snorts, the bridle rings;

      Haste, busk, and boune, and seat thee!

      The feast is made, the chamber spread,

      The bridal guests await thee." —

      Strong love prevailed: she busks, she bounes,

      She mounts the barb behind,

      And round her darling William's waist

      Her lily arms she twines.

      And, hurry! hurry! off they rode,

      As fast as fast might be;

      Spurned from the courser's thundering heels

      The flashing pebbles flee.

      And on the right, and on the left,

      Ere they could snatch a view,

      Fast, fast each mountain, mead, and plain,

      And cot, and castle, flew.

      "Sit fast – dost fear? – The moon shines clear —

      Fleet goes my barb – keep hold!

      Fearest thou?" – "O no!" she faintly said;

      "But why so stern and cold?

      "What yonder rings? what yonder sings?

      Why shrieks the owlet gray?" —

      "'Tis death-bells' clang, 'tis funeral song,

      The body to the clay.

      "With song and clang, at morrow's dawn.

      Ye may inter the dead:

      To-night I ride, with my young bride,

      To deck our bridal bed.

      "Come with thy choir, thou coffined guest,

      To swell our nuptial song!

      Come, priest, to bless our marriage feast!

      Come all, come all along!" —

      Ceased clang and song; down sunk the bier;

      The shrouded corpse arose:

      And, hurry, hurry! all the train

      The thundering steed pursues.

      And, forward! forward! on they go;

      High snorts the straining steed;

      Thick pants the rider's laboring breath,

      As headlong on they speed.

      "O William, why this savage haste?

      And where thy bridal bed?" —

      "'Tis distant far, low, damp, and chill,

      And narrow, trustless maid." —

      "No room for me?" – "Enough for both; —

      Speed, speed, my barb, thy course!"

      O'er thundering bridge, through boiling surge,

      He drove the furious horse.

      Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode,

      Splash! splash! along the sea;

      The scourge is wight, the spur is bright,

      The flashing pebbles flee.

      Fled past on right and left how fast

      Each forest, grove, and bower!

      On right and left fled past how fast

      Each city, town, and tower!

      "Dost fear? dost fear? The moon shines clear,

      Dost fear to ride with me? —

      Hurrah! hurrah! the dead can ride!"

      "O William, let them be! —

      "See there, see there! What yonder swings

      And creaks 'mid whistling rain?" —

      "Gibbet and steel, th' accursed wheel;

      A murderer in his chain. —

      "Hollo! thou felon, follow here:

      To bridal bed we ride;

      And thou shalt prance a fetter dance

      Before me and my bride." —

      And, hurry! hurry! clash, clash, clash!

      The wasted form descends;

      And fleet as wind through hazel bush

      The wild career attends.

      Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode,

      Splash! splash! along the sea;

      The scourge is red, the spur drops blood,

      The flashing pebbles flee.

      How fled what moonshine faintly showed!

      How fled what darkness hid!

      How fled the earth beneath their feet,

      The heaven above their head!

      "Dost fear? dost fear? The moon shines clear.

      And well the dead can ride;

      Does faithful Helen fear for them?" —

      "O leave in peace the dead!" —

      "Barb! Barb! methinks I hear the cock;

      The sand will soon be run:

      Barb! Barb! I smell the morning air;

      The race is well-nigh done." —

      Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode;

      Splash! splash! along the sea;

      The scourge is red, the spur drops blood,

      The flashing pebbles flee.

      "Hurrah! hurrah! well ride the dead;

      The bride, the bride is come;

      And soon we reach the bridal bed,

      For, Helen, here's my home." —

      Reluctant on its rusty hinge

      Revolved an iron door,

      And by the pale moon's setting beam

      Were seen a church and tower.

      With many a shriek and cry whiz round

      The birds of midnight, scared;

      And rustling like autumnal leaves

      Unhallowed ghosts were heard.

      O'er many a tomb and tombstone pale

      He spurred the fiery horse,

      Till sudden at an open grave

      He checked the wondrous course.

      The falling gauntlet quits the rein,

      Down drops the casque of steel,

      The cuirass leaves his shrinking side,

      The spur his gory heel.

      The eyes desert the naked skull,

      The mouldering flesh the bone,

      Till Helen's lily arms entwine

      A ghastly skeleton.

      The