Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/391
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THE HAUNTED LAKE.
373
The huntsman passes at full speed,
The hounds howl loud and seem to fear it;
The fox makes for the open mead,
Full in the teeth of man and steed—
He will not deign to shelter near it.
The hounds howl loud and seem to fear it;
The fox makes for the open mead,
Full in the teeth of man and steed—
He will not deign to shelter near it.
No woodman's axe is heard to sound
Within that forest night or day;
No human footstep dents the ground,
No voice disturbs the deep profound,
No living soul dare through it stray.
Within that forest night or day;
No human footstep dents the ground,
No voice disturbs the deep profound,
No living soul dare through it stray.
For shrieks are heard there in the night,
And wailings of a little child;
And ghastly streams of lurid light
Have flashed upon the traveller's sight,
When riding by that forest wild.
And wailings of a little child;
And ghastly streams of lurid light
Have flashed upon the traveller's sight,
When riding by that forest wild.
For there hath human blood been shed
Beside the tangling bramble's brake,
And still they say the murdered dead,
Rise nightly from their watery bed,
And wander round the Haunted Lake.
Beside the tangling bramble's brake,
And still they say the murdered dead,
Rise nightly from their watery bed,
And wander round the Haunted Lake.
'Tis said she is a lady fair,
In silken robes superbly dressed,
With large bright eyes that wildly glare,
While clotted locks of long black hair
Drop o'er the infant at her breast.
In silken robes superbly dressed,
With large bright eyes that wildly glare,
While clotted locks of long black hair
Drop o'er the infant at her breast.
She speaks not, but her white hand raises,
And to the lake with pointed finger
Beckons the step of him who gazes;
Then shrieking seeks the leafy mazes,
Leaving a pale blue light to linger.
And to the lake with pointed finger
Beckons the step of him who gazes;
Then shrieking seeks the leafy mazes,
Leaving a pale blue light to linger.
But who she is no one can tell,
Nor who her murderer might be,—
But one beside that wood did dwell,
On whom suspicion darkly f ell:
A rich, unhappy lord was he.
Nor who her murderer might be,—
But one beside that wood did dwell,
On whom suspicion darkly f ell:
A rich, unhappy lord was he.
In an old hall he lived alone,
No servant with him dared to stay;
For shriek and yell, and piercing groan,
And infant's cry, and woman's moan,
Rang through those chambers night and day.
No servant with him dared to stay;
For shriek and yell, and piercing groan,
And infant's cry, and woman's moan,
Rang through those chambers night and day.