THY rest was deep at the slumberer’s hour, | |
| If thou didst not hear the blast | |
| Of the savage horn from the mountain tower, | |
| As the Wild Night Huntsman passed, | |
| And the roar of the stormy chase went by | 5 |
| Through the dark unquiet sky! | |
| |
| The stag sprang up from his mossy bed | |
| When he caught the piercing sounds, | |
| And the oak-boughs crashed to his antlered head, | |
| As he flew from the viewless hounds; | 10 |
| And the falcon soared from her craggy height, | |
| Away through the rushing night! | |
| |
| The banner shook on its ancient hold, | |
| And the pine in its desert place, | |
| As the cloud and tempest onward rolled | 15 |
| With the din of the trampling race; | |
| And the glens were filled with the laugh and shout, | |
| And the bugle, ringing out! | |
| |
| From the chieftain’s hand the wine-cup fell, | |
| At the castle’s festive board, | 20 |
| And a sudden pause came o’er the swell | |
| Of the harp’s triumphal chord; | |
| And the Minnesinger’s thrilling lay | |
| In the hall died fast away. | |
| |
| The convent’s chanted rite was stayed, | 25 |
| And the hermit dropped his beads, | |
| And a trembling ran through the forest shade, | |
| At the neigh of the phantom steeds, | |
| And the church-bells pealed to the rocking blast | |
| As the Wild Night Huntsman passed. | 30 |
| |
| The storm hath swept the chase away, | |
| There is stillness in the sky; | |
| But the mother looks on her son to-day | |
| With a troubled heart and eye, | |
| And the maiden’s brow hath a shade of care | 35 |
| Midst the gleam of her golden hair! | |
| |
| The Rhine flows bright; but its waves erelong | |
| Must hear a voice of war, | |
| And a clash of spears our hills among, | |
| And a trumpet from afar; | 40 |
| And the brave on a bloody turf must lie,— | |
| For the Huntsman hath gone by! | |
| |
