Apparitions; Or, The Mystery of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, and Haunted Houses Developed

Now she hastens to the bay;

Now the rising storm she hears:
Now the sailors smiling say,
"Lady, lady, check your fears:
Trust us, lady; we will be
Your pilots o'er the stormy sea."

Now the little bark she view'd,
Moor'd beside the flinty steep;

And now, upon the foamy flood,
The tranquil breezes seemed to sleep.
The moon arose; her silver ray
Seem'd on the silent deep to play.

Now music stole across the main:

It was a sweet but mournful tone;

It came a slow and dulcet strain;

It came from where the pale moon shone:
And while it pass'd across the sea,

More soft and soft it seem'd to be.

Now on the deck the lady stands.
The vessel steers across the main;
It steers towards the Holy Land,
Never to return again :

Still the sailors cry, "We'll be
Your pilots o'er the stormy sea.'

Now

Now she hears a low voice say,

Deeper, deeper, deeper still; Hark! the black'ning billows play; Hark! the waves the vessel fill: Lower, lower, down we go;

All is dark and still below."

Now a flash of vivid light,

On the rolling deep was seen!
And now the lady saw the knight,
With doublet rich, of gold and green:
From the sockets of his eyes,

A pale and streaming light she spies.

And now his form transparent stood,
Smiling with a ghastly mien :

And now the calm and boundless flood
Was like the emerald, bright and green;
And now 'twas of a troubled hue,

While "Deeper, deeper," sang the crew.

Slow advanced the morning light,
Slow they plough'd the wavy tide;
When, on a cliff of dreadful height,
A castle's lofty tow'r they spied:
The lady heard the sailor-band
Cry, "Lady, this is Holy Land.

"What

"Watch no more the glitt'ring spray;

Watch no more the weedy sand;
Watch no more the star of day;
Lady, this is Holy Land:

This castle's lord shall welcome thee;
Then lady, lady, cheerful be!"

Now the castle-gates they pass;
Now across the spacious square,
Cover'd high with dewy grass,
Trembling steals the lady fair:

And now the castle's lord was seen,
Clad in a doublet gold and green.

He led her through the Gothic hall,
With bones and skulls encircled round;
"Oh, let not this thy soul appal!"
He cried, "for this is holy ground."

He led her through the chambers lone,
'Mid many a sliriek and many a groan.

Now to the banquet-room they came:
Around a table of black stone,
She mark'd a faint and vapoury flame;

Upon the horrid feast it shone

And there, to close the madd'ning sight,
Unnumber'd spectres met the light.

Their teeth were like the brilliant, bright;
Their eyes were blue as sapphire clear;
Their bones were of a polish'd white;
Gigantic did their ribs appear!

And now the knight the lady led,
And placed her at the table's head!

Just now the lady woke:-for she
Had slept upon the lofty tow'r,
And dreams of dreadful phantasie
Had fill'd the lonely moonlight hour:
Her pillow was the turret stone,

And on her breast the pale moon shone.

But now a real voice she hears:

It was her lover's voice; for he,

To calm her bosom's rending fears,
That night had cross'd the stormy sea:
"I come," said he, "from Palestine,
To prove myself, sweet Lady, thine."

INDEX.

AGREEABLE Explanation

Aix-la-Chapelle, Extraordinary Event at
Anatomical Professor, and the Dead Man
Apparitions, Essay on