Page:The Earliest English Translations of Bürger's Lenore - A Study in English and German Romanticism - Emerson (1915).djvu/102

Sexton, thy sable minstrels bring!
Come, priest, the eternal bonds to bless!
All in deep groans or spousals sing,
Ere we the genial pillow press."

The bier, the coffin, disappear'd,
The dirge in distant echoes died,
Quick sounds of viewless steps are heard
Hurrying the coal-black barb beside.
Like wind the bounding courser flies,
Earth shakes his thundering hoofs beneath;
Dust, stones, and sparks in whirlwind rise,
And horse and horseman pant for breath.

Mountains and trees, on left and right,
Swam backward from their aching view;
With speed that mock'd the labouring sight
Towns, villages, and castles flew.
"Fear'st thou, my love? the moon shines clear;
Hurrah! how swiftly speed the dead!
The dead does Leonora fear?"
"Oh, leave, oh, leave in peace the dead!"

See, where fresh blood-gouts mat the green,
Yon wheel its reeking points advance;
There, by the moon's wan light half seen,
Grim ghosts of tombless murderers dance.
"Come, spectres of the guilty dead,
With us your goblin morris ply,
Come all in festive dance to tread,
Ere on the bridal couch we lie."

Forward th' obedient phantoms push,
Their trackless footsteps rustle near,
In sounds like autumn winds that rush
Through withering oak or beech-wood sere.
With lightning's force the courier flies,
Earth shakes his thund'ring hoofs beneath,
Dust, stones, and sparks, in whirlwind rise,
And horse and horseman pant for breath.

Swift roll the moonlight scenes away,
Hills chasing hills successive fly;
E'en stars that pave th' eternal way,
Seem shooting to a backward sky.
"Fear'st thou, my love? the moon shines clear;
Hurrah! how swiftly speed the dead!
The dead does Leonora fear?"
"Oh God! oh leave, oh leave the dead!"