Classic Poem

In imitation of Lewis .

'T WAS night, and the winds through the dark forest roar'd,
From Heaven's wide cat'racts the torrents down pour'd,
And blue light'nings flash'd on the eye;
Demoniac howlings were heard in the air,
With groans of deep anguish, and shrieks of despair,
And hoarse thunders growl'd through the sky.

Pale, breathless, and trembling the dark villain stood,
His hands and his clothes all bespotted with blood,
His eyes wild with terror did stare;
The earth yawn'd around him, and sulph'rous blue,
From the flame-boiling gaps, did expose to his view
A gibbet and skeleton bare.

With horror he shrunk from a prospect so dread,
The blast swung the clanking chains over his head,
The rattling bones sung in the wind;
The lone bird of night from the abbey did cry,
He look'd o'er his shoulder, intending to fly,
But a spectre stood ghastly behind.

" Stop! deep, hell-taught villain! " the ghost did exclaim,
With thy brother of guilt here to expiate thy crime,
And atone for thy treacherous vow:
'Tis here thou shalt hang to the vultures a prey,
Till piece-meal they tear thee and bear thee away,
And thy bones rot unburied below. "

Now closing all round him fierce demons did throng,
In sounds all unholy they howl'd their death-song,
And the vultures around them did scream;
Now clenching their claws in his fear-bristled hair,
Loud yelling they bore him aloft in the air,
And the murd'rer awoke — 'Twas a dream.