XLV. O William, why this savage haste? ""Tis distant far."-"Still short and stern?” -- XLVI. "No room for me?"-" Enough for both ;- XLVII. Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode XLVIII. Fled past on right and left how fast XLIX. "Dost fear? dost fear?-The moon shines clear;~ Dost fear to ride with me? Hurrah! hurrah! The dead can ride!"— "O William, let them be! L. "See there, see there! What yonder swings And creaks 'mid whistling rain?" "Gibbet and steel, the accursed wheel; A murderer in his chain. LI. "Hollo! thou felon, follow here: And thou shalt prance a fetter dance LII. And hurry, hurry! clash, clash, clash! The wasted form descends; And fleet as wind through hazel-bush LIII. Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode, The scourge is red, the spur drops blood, LIV. How fled what moonshine faintly showed! How fled the earth beneath their feet, The heaven above their head! LV. "Dost fear? dost fear?-The moon shines clear, And well the dead can ride; Does faithful Helen fear for them?" "Barb! Barb! methinks I hear the cock; The sand will soon be run: Barb! Barb! I smell the morning air; LVII. Tramp! tramp! along the land they rode, The scourge is red, the spur drops blood, LVIII. "Hurrah! hurrah! well ride the dead, LIX. Reluctant on its rusty hinge Revolved an iron door, And by the pale moon's setting beam LX. With many a shriek and cry whiz round LXI. O'er many a tomb and tombstone palo Till sudden at an open grave He checked the wondrous course. LXII. The falling gauntlet quits the rein, LXIII. The eyes desert the naked skull, The mouldering flesh the bone, LXIV. The furious Barb snorts fire and foara, Dissolves at once in empty air, LXV. Half seen by fits, by fits half heard, Wheel round the maid in dismal dance, LXVI. "E'en when the heart's with anguish cleft, Her soul is from her body reft; 66 THE FIRE-KING. The blessings of the evil Genii, which are curses, were upon him."-Eastern Tale. THIS ballad was written, at the request of Mr Lewis, to be inserted in his "Tales of Wonder," published in 1801. It is the third in a series of four ballads, on the subject of Elementary Spirits. The story is, however, partly historical, for it is recorded that, during the struggles of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, a knight-templar, called Saint Alban, deserted to the Saracens, and defeated the Christians in many combats, till he was finally routed and slain, in a conflict with King Baldwin, under the walls of Jerusalem. BOLD knights and fair dames, to my harp give an ear, And you haply may sigh, in the midst of your glee, Oh, see you that castle, so strong and so high? "Oh, well goes the warfare by Galilee's wave, For the Heathen have lost, and the Christians have won.' A rich chain of gold 'mid her ringlets there hung; O'er the palmer's gray locks the fair chain has she flung: "O palmer, gray palmer, this chain be thy fee, For the news thou hast brought from the Holy Countrie. "O palmer, good palmer, by Galilee's wave, Oh, saw ye Count Albert, the gentle and brave? When the Crescent went back, and the Red-cross rushed on, |