WHEN panels creak mysteriously swayed; When from the deep wide gaping hearth are made Unearthly sounds; when the logs strangely seem To groan and hiss, and round their edges gleam All pale and wan; when moving in their frames The portraits seem of ancient knights and dames-- Then do you like by night, with no one near, To read old tales of marvel and of fear? This I enjoy--if in some grim old tower I find a ponderous folio to devour, Dragged from a dusty Gothic cabinet, Long years forgotten, on whose margins set Flowers, figures, objects of each gorgeous hue, As in a painted window you may view. I cannot leave it--lyrics, ballads, lays, Legend of saint who plague and famine stays, Cures leprosy, and devils puts to flight By sign of Cross; or tale of valiant knight: All I devour, the clock strikes twelve in vain, And the owl shrieks as through the narrow pane The lights before me daze his startled eyes; My table like a tomb in shape and size; Meanwhile my candle gutters o'er and makes Long winding sheets; then thro' the lattice breaks The rosy tint of dawn, and the glad sun Begins, through heaven, his glorious course to run. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN THE BERKSHIRE HILLS by LOUIS UNTERMEYER DIRGE FOR A SOLDIER [SEPTEMBER 1, 1862] by GEORGE HENRY BOKER TROAS: ACT II. LATTER END OF THE CHORUS by LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA THE VANITY OF THE WORLD by FRANCIS QUARLES THE AGED LOVER RENOUNCETH LOVE by THOMAS VAUX SONNET: 'EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY' by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |