For blood has left upon their souls

Its everlasting stain !

“And well,” quoth he, “I know, for truth, Their pangs must be extreme, – Woe, woe, unutterable woe, —

Who spill life's sacred stream'

For why? Methought, last night I wrought A murder, in a dream!

"One that had never done me wrong,

A feeble man and old;

I led him to a lonely field,

The moon shone clear and cold:

Now here, said I, this man shall die,
And I will have his gold!

"Two sudden blows with a ragged stick,
And one with a heavy stone,
One hurried gash with a hasty knife,
And then the deed was done :
There was nothing lying at my foot.
But lifeless flesh and bone!

66 'Nothing but lifeless flesh and bone, That could not do me ill;

And yet I feared him all the more,

For lying there so still :

There was a manhood in his look,
.That murder could not kill!

"And, lo! the universal air
Seemed lit with ghastly flame,
Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes
Were looking down in blame :
I took the dead man by his hand,
And called upon his name!

“O God! it made me quake to see
Such sense within the slain ;
But when I touched the lifeless clay,
The blood gushed out amain!
For every clot, a burning spot
Was scorching in my brain!

"My head was like an ardent coal, My heart as solid ice;

My wretched, wretched soul, I knew Was at the Devil's price.

A dozen times I groaned; the dead Had never groaned but twice.

"And now, from forth the frowning sky, From the heaven's topmost height,

I heard a voice - the awful voice

Of the blood-avenging sprite :'Thou guilty man! take up thy dead And hide it from my sight!'

“I took the dreary body up,
And cast it in a stream,
A sluggish water, black as ink,
The depth was so extreme : ---
My gentle boy, remember, this
Is nothing but a dream!

"Down went the corse with a hollow plunge.

And vanished in the pool;
Anon I cleansed my bloody hands,

And washed my forehead cool,
And sat among the urchins young,
That evening, in the school.

"O Heaven! to think of their white souls, And mine so black and grim!

I could not share in childish prayer,
Nor join in evening hymn:

Like a devil of the pit I seemed,

Mid holy cherubim !

"And Peace went with them, one and all,
And each calm pillow spread;
But Guilt was my grim chamberlain,
That lighted me to bed,

And drew my midnight curtains round,

With fingers bloody red!

"All night I lay in agony,

In anguish dark and deep;

My fevered eyes I dared not close,
But stared aghast at sleep :
For Sin had rendered unto her
The keys of hell to keep!

"All night I lay in agony,
From weary chime to chime,
With one besetting horrid hint,
That racked me all the time;
A mighty yearning, like the first
Fierce impulse unto crime,

"One stern tyrannic thought, that made All other thoughts its slave;

Stronger and stronger every pulse
Did that temptation crave, –
Still urging me to go and see
The dead man in his grave!

"Heavily I rose up, as soon
As light was in the sky,
And sought the black accursed pool
With a wild misgiving eye;

And I saw the dead in the river-bed,
For the faithless stream was dry.

"Merrily rose the lark, and shook
The dew-drop from its wing;
But I never marked its morning flight,
I never heard it sing,
For I was stooping once again

Under the horrid thing.

"With breathless speed, like a soul in chase,

I took him up and ran;

There was no time to dig a grave

Before the day began:

In a lonesome wood, with heaps of leaves,

I hid the murdered man!