Classic Poem

The wolf came sniffing at my door,
But the wolf had prowled on my track before,
And his sniff, sniff, sniff at my lodge door-sill
Only made me laugh at his devilish will.

I stirred my fire and read my book,
And joyed my soul at my ingle-nook.
His sniff and his snarl were always there,
But my heart was not the heart of a hare.

I cursed the beast and drove him away,
But he came with the fall of night each day,
And his sniff, sniff, sniff the whole night through
I could hear between the winds that blew.

And the time came when I laughed no more,
But glanced with fear at my frail lodge door,
For now I knew that the wolf at bay
Sooner or later would have his way.

The Fates were three, and I was one.
About my life a net was spun;
My soul grew faint in the deadly snare,
And the shrewd wolf knew my heart's despair.

A crash, and my door flew open wide.
My strength was not as the beast's at my side.
That night on my hearthstone cold and bare
He licked his paw and made his lair.