I.

“O H ! father, father, list to me;
The tale that I shall tell,
It must no more my burthen be,
And, father, heed me well.

II.

“Last night upon my bed I lay,
And prayed that I might sleep,
But still my wakeful thoughts would stay,
And still I could not weep.

III.

“The moonshine filled my room with light,
A stream of silver air,
And all the window-panes were bright,
And showed the stars so fair.

IV.

“I lay and looked, when lo! a hand,
A giant hand outspread;
Methought the moonlight skies it spanned,
And darkened o'er my bed.

V.

“This hand of giant size, I say,
It beckoned me to rise,
I saw its shadow where I lay,
I felt it o'er my eyes.

VI.

“I rose and went, I passed the door,
And, father! I beheld,
Where stood the old yew-tree before,
A form that heavenward swelled.

VII.

“It seemed a dark gigantic man,
Who sat upon a mound;
His face not well my eye could scan,
For darkness wrapped it round.

VIII.

“Oh! taller far than spire or trees,
That form above me bowed;
A mantle falling o'er his knees
Concealed him all in cloud.

IX.

“I knew 'twas not an earthly thing
That there before me rose;
Some nameless ghost-land's ghostly king,
Whose look my life-blood froze.

X.

“And when he fixed his gaze on me
I turned my eyes away,
And there before his foot could see
A grave that open lay.