Book 2 — THE BLACK HUNTSMAN.
Reading edition
———
HORACE W. SMITH.
———
Loud blew the wind at the midnight hour,
With many a wintry blast,
Which fairly shook old Rodenstine’s tower,
As the Wild Black Huntsman passed.
The deer he sprang from his leafy bed,
As he heard the piercing sounds,
And the oak boughs crashed to his antlered head,
As he flew from the phantom hounds.
The rite of the holy monk was stayed,
And he trembling dropped his beads,
As he heard the tramp through the forest glades
And the neigh of the goblin steeds.
From the revellers hand the wine-cup fell,
At the forester’s festive board;
And a sudden charm came o’er the spell
Of the minstrels tuneful chord.
The old oak shook in its ancient hold,
The abbey bell tolled to the blast;
And the cloud and the tempest onward rolled,
As the Wild Black Huntsman passed.
J. Hayter W.H. Mote
COQUETISH SEVENTEEN.
Graham’s Magazine 1852