and dragged his lady
At midnight to his grave?

Believe me, I am living;
And I am stronger far,
Most pure, most radiant maiden,
Than all the dead men are.

XXIV.

The maiden sleeps in her chamber,
Where the trembling moonbeams glance,
Without there singeth and ringeth
The melody of a dance.

"I will look just once from the window,
To see who breaks my rest."
A skeleton fiddles before her,
And sings like one possessed.

"To dance with me you promised,
And you have broken your vow.
To-night is a ball in the churchyard,
Come out and dance with me now."

The music bewitches the maiden;
Forth from her home doth she go;
She follows the bony fiddler,
Who sings as he scrapes his bow.

He fiddles, and hops and dances,
And rattles his bones as he plays;
His skull nods grimly and strangely,
In the clear moonlight's rays.

XXV.

I gazed upon her portrait,
While dark dreams filled my brain,
And those beloved features
Began to breathe again.

I saw upon her lips then
A wondrous smile arise,
And as with tears of pity
Glistened once more her eyes.

Adown my cheeks in silence,
The tears came flowing free.
And oh! I cannot believe it,
That thou art lost to me!

XXVI.

I, a most wretched Atlas, the huge world,
The whole huge world of sorrow I must carry.
Yea, the unbearable must bear, though meanwhile
My heart break in my bosom.

Thou haughty heart, thyself hast willed it thus,
Thou would'st be happy, infinitely happy,
Or infinitely wretched, haughty heart!
And lo! now art thou wretched.

XXVII.

The years are coming and going,
Whole races are home to their rest;
But never ceases the passion
That burns within my breast.

Only once more I would see thee,
And make thee a low salaam,
And with my dying breath, murmur:
"I love you still, Madame!"

XXVIII.

I dreamed that the moon looked sadly down,
And the stars with a troubled ray;
I went to my sweetheart's home--the town
Lies many a league away.

My longing led me before her door;
I kissed the stone steps brown,
That her feet had touched in the days of yore,
And the trailing hem of her gown.

The night was long, the night was cold,
Ice-cold did the stone steps seem.
In the window her own wan face, behold!
Illumed by the moon's pale beam.

X