Page:The Earliest English Translations of Bürger's Lenore - A Study in English and German Romanticism - Emerson (1915).djvu/96

Sexton come, come with thy choir,
Songs of love before us sing;
O'er the couch of fond desire
Priest thy nuptial blessing fling."

Down the sable bier was laid,
Hush'd the knell, and hush'd the dirge.
All his voice at once obey'd.
All their flight behind him urge.
On the steed still speeds his flight,
Swifter than the whirlwind's force;
Struck from flints the flashing light
Distant marks his rapid course.

To the left, and to the right,
As they pass with lightning speed,
Mountains vanish from their sight,
Streams, and woods, and towns recede.
"Fears my Love?—The moon shines clear.—
Swift the course of death is sped,—
Does my Love the dead now fear?"—
"Leave, ah leave at peace the dead."—

Wheels, and racks, and gibbets, see
By the pale moon's trembling glance,
Crowding sprites, with horrid glee,
Round the seats of terror dance:
"Come, ye goblins! hither come,
Hither let your footsteps tread,
Follow to our distant home,
Dance around our bridal-bed."

Soon they hear, and follow fast,
Loudly murmuring as they move,
Like the shrill autumnal blast
Whistling thro' the wither'd grove.
Far the steed now speeds his flight,
Swifter than the whirlwind's force,
Struck from flints the flashing light
Distant marks his rapid course.

Far, shown by the moon's pale light,
Far the distant landscape flies.
Far, receding from their sight,
Fly the clouds, the stars, the skies.
"Fears my Love?—The moon shines clear.—
Swift the course of death is sped.
Does my Love the dead now fear?"—
"Leave! O leave at rest the dead."