And, calling sinful man to pray,

Loud, long, and deep, the bell had tolled:
4. But still the Wildgrave onward rides ;
Halloo, halloo! and, hark again!
When, spurring from opposing sides,
Two Stranger Horsemen join the train.
5. Who was each Stranger, left and right,
Well may I guess, but dare not tell;
The right-hand steed was silver white,
The left, the swarthy hue of hell.

6. The right-hand horseman, young and fair,
His smile was like the morn of May;
The left, from eye of tawny glare,
Shot midnight lightning's lurid ray.

7. He waved his huntsman's cap on high,
Cried, "Welcome, welcome, noble lord!
What sport can earth, or sea, or sky,

To match the princely chase afford?"3. "Cease thy loud bugle's clanging knell," Cried the fair youth with silver voice; "And for Devotion's choral swell,

Exchange the rude unhallowed noise. 9. "To-day, the ill-omened chase forbear, Yon bell yet summons to the fane; To-day the Warning Spirit hear, To-morrow thou mayst mourn in vain."10. "Away, and sweep the glades along!" The Sable Hunter hoarse replies; "To muttering monks leave matin-song, And bells, and bocks, and mysteries.' 11. The Wildgrave spurred his ardent steed, And, launching forward with a bound, "Who, for thy drowsy priestlike rede, Would leave the jovial horn and hound?

12. "Hence, if our manly sport offend!

With pious fools go chant and pray :-
Well hast thou spoke, my dark-browed friend;
Halloo, halloo! and, hark away!"-

13. The Wildgrave spurred his courser light,
O'er moss and moor, o'er holt and hill;
And on the left, and on the right,

Each Stranger Horseman followed still.
14. Up springs, from yonder tangled thorn,
A stag more white than mountain snow;
And louder rung the Wildgrave's horn,

Hark, forward, forward! holla, ho!"

15. A heedless wretch has crossed the way;
He gasps the thundering hoofs below;—
But, live who can, or die who may,

Still, "Forward, forward!" On they go. 16. See, where yon simple fences meet,

A field with autumn's blessings crowned;
See, prostrate at the Wildgrave's fect,
A husbandman, with toil embrowned:

17. "O mercy, mercy, noble lord!

Spare the poor's pittance," was his cry,
Earned by the sweat these brows have poured,
In scorching hour of fierce July.”—

18. Earnest the right-hand Stranger pleads,
The left still cheering to the prey;
The impetuous Earl no warning heeds,
But furious holds the onward way.
19. "Away, thou hound! so basely born,
Or dread the scourge's echoing Llow!"
Then loudly rung his bugle-horn,

"Hark forward, forward, holla, ho!" 20. So said, so done :-A single bound

Clears the poor labourer's humble pale;
Wild follows man, and horse, and hound,
Like dark December's stormy gale.

21. And man, and horse, and hound, and horn,
Destructive sweep the field along ;

While, joying o'er the wasted corn,

Fell Famine marks the maddening throng.

22. Again up-roused the timorous prey

Scours moss, and moor, and holt, and hill;
Hard run, he feels his strength decay,
And trusts for life his simple skill.

23. Too dangerous solitude appeared ;
He seeks the shelter of the crowd;
Amid the flock's domestic herd

His harmless head he hopes to shroud.
24. O'er moss, and moor, and holt, and hill,
His tract the steady blood-hounds trace;
O'er moss and moor, unwearied still,
The furious Earl pursues the chase.

25. Full lowly did the herdsman fall ;-
"O spare, thou noble Baron, spare
These herds, a widow's little all;
These flocks, an orphan's fleecy care."-
26. Earnest the right-hand Stranger pleads,
The left still cheering to the prey;
The Earl nor prayer nor pity heeds,
But furious keeps the onward way.

27.

"Unmannered dog! To stop my sport Vain were thy cant and beggar whine, Though human spirits, of thy sort,

Were tenants of these carrion kine !"28. Again he winds his bugle-horn,

"Hark forward, forward, holla, ho!" And through the herd, in ruthless scorn, He cheers his furious hounds to go.

29. In heaps the throttled victims fall;

Down sinks their mangled herdsman near;
The murderous cries the stag appal,-
Again he starts, new-nerved by fear.

30. With blood besmeared, and white with foam,
While big the tears of anguish pour,
He seeks amid the forest's gloom

The humble hermit's hallowed bower. 31. But man, and horse, and horn, and hound, Fast rattling on his traces go;

The sacred chapel rung around

With, "Hark away; and, holla, ho!"

32. All mild, amid the rout profane,

33.

The holy hermit poured his prayer ;-
"Forbear with blood God's house to stain;
Revere his altar, and forbear!

"The meanest brute has rights to plead,
Which, wronged by cruelty, or pride,
Draw vengeance on the ruthless head :

Be warned at length, and turn aside."-
34. Still the Fair Horseman anxious pleads;
The Black, wild whooping, points the prey :-
Alas! the Earl no warning heeds,
But frantic keeps the forward way.

35. "Holy or not, or right or wrong, Thy altar, and its rites, I spurn; Not sainted martyrs' sacred song,

Not God himself, shall make me turn!"-
36. He spurs his horse, he winds his horn,
"Hark forward, forward, holla, ho!"--
But off, on whirlwind's pinions borne,
The stag, the hut, the hermit, go.

37. And horse, and man, and horn, and hound,
And clamour of the chase, was gone;
For hoofs, and howls, and bugle sound,
A deadly silence reigned alone.

38. Wild gazed the affrighted Earl around;
He strove in vain to wake his horn ;
In vain to call; for not a sound
Could from his anxious lips be borne.

39. He listens for his trusty hounds;

No distant baying reached his ears :
His courser, rooted to the ground,

The quickening spur unmindful bears.
40. Still dark and darker frown the shades,
Dark, as the darkness of the grave;
And not a sound the still invades,
Save what a distant torrent gave.
41. High o'er the sinner's humbled head
At length the solemn silence broke ;
And, from a cloud of swarthy red,
The awful voice of thunder spoke :
'Oppressor of creation fair!

42.

43.

Apostate Spirits' hardened tool!
Scorner of God! Scourge of the poor!
The measure of thy cup is full.

"Be chased for ever through the wood,
For ever roam the affrighted wild;
And let thy fate instruct the proud,

God's meanest creature is his child."

44. 'Twas hushed: One flash, of sombre glare, With yellow tinged the forests brown; Up rose the Wildgrave's bristling hair,

And horror chilled each nerve and bone. 45. Cold poured the sweat in freezing rill; A rising wind began to sing;

And louder, louder, louder still,

Brought storm and tempest on its wing. 46. Earth heard the call ;--Her entrails rend; From yawning rifts, with many a yell, Mixed with sulphureous flames, ascend The misbegotten dogs of hell.

47. What ghastly Huntsman next arose,
Well may I guess, but dare not tell;
His eye like midnight lightning glows,
His steed the swarthy hue of hell.

48. The Wildgrave flies o'er bush and thorn,
With many a shriek of helpless woe;
Behind him hound, and horse, and horr,
And, "Hark away, and holla, ho!"

49. With wild despair's reverted eye,

Close, close behind, he marks the thong,
With bloody fangs, and eager cry ;~
In frantic fear he scours along.

50. Still, still shall last the dreadful chase,
Till time itself shall have an end:
By day, they scour earth's caverned space,
At midnight's witching hour, ascend.

51. This is the horn, the hound, and horse,
That oft the 'lated peasant hears;
Appalled, he signs the frequent cross,
When the wild din invades his ears.

52. The wakeful priest oft drops a tear
For human pride, for human woe,
When, at his midnight mass, he hears
The infernal cry of, "Holla, ho!"

WILLIAM AND HELEN.

In the preface to the edition published anonymously in 1796, Sir Walter Scott says:-"The first two lines of the forty-seventh stanza, descriptive of the speed of the lovers, may perhaps bring to the recollection of many a passage extremely similar, in a translation of 'Leonora,' which first appeared in the Monthly Magazine.' In justice to himself, the translator thinks it his duty to acknowledge that his curiosity was first attracted to this truly romantic story, by a gentleman, who, having heard 'Leonora' once read in manuscript, could only recollect the general outlines, and part of a couplet which, from the singularity of its structure and frequent recurrence, had remained impressed upon his memory. If, from despair of rendering the passage so happily, the property of another has been invaded, the translator makes the only atonement now in his power, by restoring it thus publicly to the rightful owner."

I. FROM heavy dreams fair Helen rose
And eyed the dawning red:

"Alas, my love, thou tarriest long!
O art thou false or dead?"

2. With gallant Frederick's princely power
He sought the bold Crusade;
But not a word from Judah's wars
Told Helen how he sped.

3. With Paynim and with Saracen
At length a truce was made,
And every knight returned to dry
The tears his love had shed.

4. Our gallant host was homeward bound
With many a song of joy;

Green waved the laurel in each plume,
The badge of victory.

5. And old and young, and sire and son,
To meet them crowd the way,
With shouts, and mirth, and melody,
The debt of love to pay.

6. Full many a maid her true love met,
And sobbed in his embrace,

And fluttering joy in tears and smiles
Arrayed full many a face.