"O father, see yonder! see yonder!" he says.
"My boy, upon what doest thou fearfully gaze?"--
"O, 't is the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud."--
"No, my son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud."

(_The Erl-King speaks._)

"O, come and go with me, thou loveliest child;
By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;
My mother keeps for thee full many a fair toy,
And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy."

"O father, my father, and did you not hear
The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?"
"Be still, my heart's darling--my child, be at ease;
It was but the wild blast as it sung thro' the trees."

_Erl-King._

"O wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?
My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;
She shall bear thee so lightly thro' wet and thro' wild,
And press thee, and kiss thee, and sing to my child."

"O father, my father, and saw you not plain
The Erl-King's pale daughter glide past thro' the rain?"--
"O yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon;
It was the gray willow that danced to the moon."

_Erl-King._

"O, come and go with me, no longer delay,
Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away."--
"O Father! O father! now, now keep your hold,
The Erl-King has seized me--his grasp is so cold!"

Sore trembled the father; he spurr'd thro' the wild,
Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;
He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,
But, clasp'd to his bosom, the infant was _dead_!

You see I have not altogether lost the faculty of rhyming. I
assure you, there is no small impudence in attempting a version
of that ballad, as it has been translated by _Lewis_.--All good
things be with you.

W. S.

[Footnote 140: From the German of Goethe.]

TO {p.256} WALTER SCOTT, ESQ., ADVOCATE, EDINBURGH.

LONDON, October 15, 1797.

SIR,--I received your letter with pleasure, instead of
considering it as an intrusion. One thing more being fully stated
would have made it perfectly satisfactory,--namely, the sort of