 | The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes |  |
THE CANNIBAL
I had a strange and fearful dream,
It lingers in my brain,
I've tried to blot its traces out,
But I have tried in vain;
I would not for an angel's crown
Have such a dream again.
It lingers in my brain,
I've tried to blot its traces out,
But I have tried in vain;
I would not for an angel's crown
Have such a dream again.
It was a dark and stormy night,
And I was all alone,
When suddenly upon mine eye
A ghastly splendor shone,
And a fiery figure stalked along,
And I heard a hollow moan.
And I was all alone,
When suddenly upon mine eye
A ghastly splendor shone,
And a fiery figure stalked along,
And I heard a hollow moan.
He was a shape of giant size,
He looked all gaunt and grim;
It seemed as if my locks and bolts
Were but as threads to him;—
I always double lock my door,
For I am short and slim.
He looked all gaunt and grim;
It seemed as if my locks and bolts
Were but as threads to him;—
I always double lock my door,
For I am short and slim.
My tongue it cleaved unto my jaws,
As it were in a vice;
My heart lay cold upon my ribs,
As any lump of ice;
My knees they rattled fearfully,
As men do rattle dice.
As it were in a vice;
My heart lay cold upon my ribs,
As any lump of ice;
My knees they rattled fearfully,
As men do rattle dice.
He opened wide his earthquake jaws,
And up his arm he flung;
Then I did give a feeble cry,
And to the bed-post clung,
For he had mighty lion teeth,
And a flaming, forked tongue.
And up his arm he flung;
Then I did give a feeble cry,
And to the bed-post clung,
For he had mighty lion teeth,
And a flaming, forked tongue.
He said he was a canibal,
And that he walked by night,
And that he once had been a man,
But now he was a sprite,
And that he knew how I was young,
And came to take a bite.
And that he walked by night,
And that he once had been a man,
But now he was a sprite,
And that he knew how I was young,
And came to take a bite.
And then he pinched my meagre cheek,
And felt my shoulders spare,
And growled and grumbled over me,
And pawed me like a bear;
Then I did think of all my sins,
And tried to say a prayer.
And felt my shoulders spare,
And growled and grumbled over me,
And pawed me like a bear;
Then I did think of all my sins,
And tried to say a prayer.
He swore it was full many a day
Since mortal flesh he saw,
And now he thought a burning coal
Was lying in his maw;
With that he gnawed me with his teeth,
And clutched me with his claw.
Since mortal flesh he saw,
And now he thought a burning coal
Was lying in his maw;
With that he gnawed me with his teeth,
And clutched me with his claw.
Then I did try once more to shriek,
And sight and hearing fled,
But I could feel him munching me,
As people munch their bread,
And poison breathing from his lips,
Like vapors from the dead.
And sight and hearing fled,
But I could feel him munching me,
As people munch their bread,
399
Like vapors from the dead.
When he had done his meal he flung
My carcass in a sack,
And shouldered what there was of me,
As pedlars do their pack;—
I woke,—it was my breakfast-time,
And I was on my back.
My carcass in a sack,
And shouldered what there was of me,
As pedlars do their pack;—
I woke,—it was my breakfast-time,
And I was on my back.
| The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes | |