The Poetical Works of the Rev. George Crabbe :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Brothers spoke of Ghosts,—a favourite theme,
With those who love to reason or to dream;
And they, as greater men were wont to do,
Felt strong desire to think the stories true:
Stories of spirits freed, who came to prove
To spirits bound in flesh that yet they love,
To give them notice of the things below,
Which we must wonder how they came to know,
Or known, would think of coming to relate
To creatures who are tried by unknown fate.

“Warning,” said Richard, “seems the only thing
“That would a spirit on an errand bring:
“To turn a guilty mind from wrong to right
“A ghost might come, at least I think it might.”

“But,” said the Brother, “if we here are tried,
“A spirit sent would put that law aside;
“It gives to some advantage others need,
“Or hurts the sinner should it not succeed:

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“If from the dead, said Dives, one were sent
“To warn my brethren, sure they would repent;
“But Abraham answered, if they now reject
“The guides they have, no more would that effect;
“Their doubts too obstinate for grace would prove,
“For wonder hardens hearts it fails to move.

“Suppose a sinner in an hour of gloom,
“And let a ghost with all its horrors come;
“From lips unmoved let solemn accents flow,
“Solemn his gesture be, his motion slow;
“Let the waved hand and threatening look impart
“Truth to the mind and terror to the heart;
“And, when the form is fading to the view,
“Let the convicted man cry, ‘This is true!’

“Alas! how soon would doubts again invade
“The willing mind, and sins again persuade!
“I saw it—What?—I was awake, but how?
“Not as I am, or I should see it now:
“It spoke, I think,—I thought, at least it spoke,—
“And look'd alarming—yes, I felt the look.
“But then in sleep those horrid forms arise,
“That the soul sees,—and, we suppose, the eyes,—

121

“And the soul hears,—the senses then thrown by,
“She is herself the ear, herself the eye;
“A mistress so will free her servile race
“For their own tasks, and take herself the place:
“In sleep what forms will ductile fancy take,
“And what so common as to dream awake?
“On others thus do ghostly guests intrude?
“Or why am I by such advice pursued?
“One out of millions who exist, and why
“They know not—cannot know—and such am I;
“And shall two beings of two worlds, to meet,
“The laws of one, perhaps of both, defeat?
“It cannot be.—But if some being lives
“Who such kind warning to a favourite gives,
“Let him these doubts from my dull spirit clear,
“And once again, expected guest! appear.

“And if a second time the power complied,
“Why is a third, and why a fourth, denied?
“Why not a warning ghost for ever at our side?
“Ah, foolish being! thou hast truth enough,
“Augmented guilt would rise on greater proof;
“Blind and imperious passion disbelieves,
“Or madly scorns the warning it receives,

122

“Or looks for pardon ere the ill be done,
“Because 't is vain to strive our fate to shun;
“In spite of ghosts, predestined woes would come,
“And warning add new terrors to our doom.

“Yet there are tales that would remove our doubt,
“The whisper'd tales that circulate about,
“That in some noble mansion take their rise,
“And told with secrecy and awe, surprise:
“It seems not likely people should advance,
“For falsehood's sake, such train of circumstance;
“Then the ghosts bear them with a ghost-like grace,
“That suits the person, character, and place.

“But let us something of the kind recite:
“What think you, now, of Lady Barbara's spright?”

“I know not what to think; but I have heard
“A ghost, to warn her or advise, appear'd;
“And that she sought a friend before she died
“To whom she might the awful fact confide,
“Who seal'd and secret should the story keep
“Till Lady Barbara slept her final sleep,
“In that close bed, that never spirit shakes,
“Nor ghostly visiter the sleeper wakes.”

123

“Yes, I can give that story, not so well
“As your old woman would the legend tell,
“But as the facts are stated; and now hear
“How ghosts advise, and widows persevere.”