 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
293
THE OWL.
—“Hark!—peace!
It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bell-man
Which gives the stern'st good night.”
It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bell-man
Which gives the stern'st good night.”
What bird, by the howl of the tempest unawed,
In the gloom of a cold winter night is abroad?
He quits his dim roost in some desolate dell,
And skims like a ghost over meadow and fell.
In the gloom of a cold winter night is abroad?
He quits his dim roost in some desolate dell,
And skims like a ghost over meadow and fell.
To break his long fast the red fox is a-foot,
But pauses to hear a wild, ominous hoot,
As, muffled in feathers, the hermit glides by,
With a fiery gleam in his broad staring eye.
But pauses to hear a wild, ominous hoot,
As, muffled in feathers, the hermit glides by,
With a fiery gleam in his broad staring eye.
By hunger the robber is driven away
From haunts where in summer he hunted his prey;
He banquets no more on the robin and wren,
And the white-breasted dormouse is safe in his den.
From haunts where in summer he hunted his prey;
He banquets no more on the robin and wren,
And the white-breasted dormouse is safe in his den.
Hushed now in the farm-house are voices of mirth,
And pale ashes cover the brand on its hearth;
The windows are darkened—no longer a-glow
With lights that made ruddy the new-fallen snow.
And pale ashes cover the brand on its hearth;
The windows are darkened—no longer a-glow
With lights that made ruddy the new-fallen snow.
The barn of the farmer, wind-shaken and old,
Is a favorite haunt of the plunderer bold;
And thither, like phantom that flits in a dream,
He hurries to perch on some dust-covered beam.
Is a favorite haunt of the plunderer bold;
And thither, like phantom that flits in a dream,
He hurries to perch on some dust-covered beam.
The gloom of the place his keen vision explores,
Both granary, hay-loft, and straw-littered floors,
And merciless talons will capture and tear
The poor little mice that abandon their lair.
Both granary, hay-loft, and straw-littered floors,
And merciless talons will capture and tear
The poor little mice that abandon their lair.
294
Sometimes on his perch, till the breaking of day,
The lonely marauder of night will delay;
And his globular orbs that see well in the dark,
Sly foes on the walk are unable to mark.
The lonely marauder of night will delay;
And his globular orbs that see well in the dark,
Sly foes on the walk are unable to mark.
They spare not—for plumage discovered at morn
Nigh dove-cote and hen-house was bloody and torn;
And, victim of false accusation, is slain
The mouser that preyed on the robbers of grain.
Nigh dove-cote and hen-house was bloody and torn;
And, victim of false accusation, is slain
The mouser that preyed on the robbers of grain.
To kill I forebore, when a mischievous boy,
Though lifted on high was my club to destroy;
So bravely the creature received my attack,
Fiercely snapping his bill, and with talons drawn back.
Though lifted on high was my club to destroy;
So bravely the creature received my attack,
Fiercely snapping his bill, and with talons drawn back.
Old tales of romance on my memory crowd,
When Eve is abroad with her mantle of cloud,
And dolorous notes, in the wilderness heard,
The waking announce of night's favorite bird.
When Eve is abroad with her mantle of cloud,
And dolorous notes, in the wilderness heard,
The waking announce of night's favorite bird.
I think of old abbeys and mouldering towers,
And wrecks dimly seen through lone moon-lighted bowers,
Where beasts of the desert resort for a lair,
And howlet and bittern for shelter repair.
And wrecks dimly seen through lone moon-lighted bowers,
Where beasts of the desert resort for a lair,
And howlet and bittern for shelter repair.
The gray-feathered hermit would frighten of old
Rude hinds overtaken by night in the wold,
By hoary tradition, from infancy taught,
That his screech with a fearful foreboding was fraught.
Rude hinds overtaken by night in the wold,
By hoary tradition, from infancy taught,
That his screech with a fearful foreboding was fraught.
His image flamed out on the terrible shield
That Pallas up-bore when arrayed for the field;
An emblem that Wisdom, when others are blind,
Clear-sighted, a path through the darkness will find.
That Pallas up-bore when arrayed for the field;
An emblem that Wisdom, when others are blind,
Clear-sighted, a path through the darkness will find.
When proud Idumea was cursed by her God,
And brambles grew up where the mighty once trod;
Owls, flapping their pinions in palaces wide,
Raised a desolate scream of farewell to her pride.
And brambles grew up where the mighty once trod;
Owls, flapping their pinions in palaces wide,
Raised a desolate scream of farewell to her pride.
295
When shadows that slowly creep over the lea
Call the feathered recluse from his hollow oak tree,
That murder-scene oft to my sight is displayed
By the Wizard of Avon so grandly portrayed.
Call the feathered recluse from his hollow oak tree,
That murder-scene oft to my sight is displayed
By the Wizard of Avon so grandly portrayed.
While drear shapes of horror are gibbering round,
Guilt whispers, appalled,—“Did'st thou hear not a sound?”
Then blood-curdling tones pierce the gloom in reply,—
“I heard the owl scream, and the hearth-cricket cry!”
Guilt whispers, appalled,—“Did'st thou hear not a sound?”
Then blood-curdling tones pierce the gloom in reply,—
“I heard the owl scream, and the hearth-cricket cry!”
Oh, vex not the bird! let him rule evermore,
In a shadowy realm with antiquity hoar:
Quaint rhyme he recalls that was sung by our nurse,
And the masters of song weave his name in their verse.
In a shadowy realm with antiquity hoar:
Quaint rhyme he recalls that was sung by our nurse,
And the masters of song weave his name in their verse.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |