Then first, as shivering with the breeze
He closer wraps his mantle round,
Dim through the darken'd air he sees
A maid reclin'd upon the ground-
The winds unheeded shriek around,
Unheeded drive the cutting snows,
Thro' her wet locks the sad winds sound,
Grief's pallid lines her cheeks disclose.

"My Janet!" William breathless said;
But who can paint his strange despair,
When swift from sight the phantom fled,
And all he clasp'd was empty air-
"Oh wherefore, wherefore, fliest thou, fair?
Oh dost thou not thy William see?
Or are my cheeks so mark'd by care,
My eyes so sunk with slavery?"

He looks around with piercing eyes
Thro' every woody glade in vain;
He calls aloud-but none replies
Save howling winds and beating rain:
At length he spurs his horse amain
With frantic speed 'mid snow and show'r,
Thro' brake and briar, o'er hill and plain,
Until he stops at Janet's bow'r.

Who first should fix his eager eye?
Who rush his warm embrace to seek?
Who speechless, breathless, faint with joy,
Hide in his breast her glowing cheek?
In vain they both essay to speak;
(Love could no more than feel and see.)
At last the well-known accents break
"Oh William, William, welcome be !"

"Oh William, such an hour as this "Might well reward an age of pain, "Yet scarce for all this wondrous bliss "Would I last night dream o'er again— "What phantoms swarm'd within my brain! "What shudd'rings crept my bosom o'er! "As if my soul its flight had ta'en "To some dark, wint'ry, howling shore.

"Long in a deadly trance I lay

"(A mass confus'd of horrid thought) "Till fancy bore my soul away,

"And to the scenes of childhood brought; "But when the much-lov'd tree I sought, "By William's earliest vows endear'd, "The storm its leafy boughs had caught, "A blasted trunk alone appear'd.

"I sat beneath the blasted tree,
"When, borne upon the tempest's roar,
"The abbey bell toll'd sullenly

"Thro' the dim air the hour of four;
"Again a deadly trance came o’er,

"And all my pow'rs of sense were flown, "But oh, my William! 'tis no more, "Thou, thou art here! and thou'rt my own!"

She said-o'er William's heart the while
A short convulsive horror stole,

But soon his Janet's glowing smile
Bursts thro' the clouds that o'er him roll;
The fragrant feast, the flowing bowl,
Her tuneful voice, her tender eye,

Soon melt each terror of his soul
In visions of felicity.

"And oh, my lovely maid," said he,
"As Fate our souls could ne'er divide,
"So let the early morning see

"My dearest Jean her William's bride."
The blushing maiden nought replied,
But love can no refusal yield,
Her silence a consent supplied,

And speaking eyes the promise seal'd.

Her William safe, her William near,
All care forsook fair Janet's breast,
Light was her heart, that knew not fear,
And golden slumbers crown'd her rest;
But when no more her presence bless'd
His sight, and fill'd his soul with joy,
Then mournful fears again oppress'd
Her William's hopes with sad alloy.

And if he strove his eyes to close,
The night brought forms of ghastly hue,
And chilling terror on his brows

Had laid her cold hand wet with dew;

In vain he strove the hideous crew
Of fancies wild to drive away;
In vain to turn his eager view
Towards th' expected joys of day.

But ever, while in warmest love
His thoughts were fix'd on Janet fair,
The form his sick'ning fancy wove
Was wan with woe, and pale with care,
And blasted by the morning air,
That coldly parch'd her shiv'ring form,
Or thro' her wet unbraided hair

Shrill whistled midst the howling storm.

All night his fev'rish bed he prest,
Hour after hour pass'd joyless o'er,
Till (striking chillness thro' his breast)
He heard the well-mark'd sound of four;
He started up-and straight before
His eyes, his Janet's form he spied,

-But as he gaz'd, she was no more, And in th' increasing morning died.

To Janet's bow'r the lover sped
With hurried step and frantic air,-
Before he reach'd his Janet's bed

Grim death had claim'd his portion there!