Three times, all in the dead of night,
A bell was heard to ring;

And shrieking at her window thrice,
A raven flapped his wing.

Too well the love-lorn maiden knew
The solemn boding sound,
And thus in dying words bespoke
The virgins weeping round:

"I hear a voice you cannot hear,
Which says I must not stay;
I see a hand you cannot see,
Which beckons me away.
By a false heart and broken vows,
In early youth I die:

Am I to blame because his bride
Is thrice as rich as I?

"Ah Colin! give not her thy vows,
Vows due to me alone;

Nor thou, fond maid, receive his kiss,
Nor think him all thy own.
To-morrow in the church to wed,

Impatient both prepare;

But know, fond maid, and know, false man, That Lucy will be there!

"Then bear my corse, ye comrades bear,

The bridegroom blithe to meet;

He in his wedding trim so gay,

I in my winding sheet.”

She spoke, she died!—her corse was borne
The bridegroom blithe to meet—

He in his wedding trim so gay,

She in her winding sheet.

Then what were perjured Colin's thoughts,
How were those nuptials kept?
The bridemen flocked round Lucy dead,
And all the village wept.
Compassion, shame, remorse, despair,
At once his bosom swell;

The damps of death bedewed his brows,
He shook, he groaned, he fell.

From the vain bride, (ah bride no more!)
The varying crimson fled;

When stretched before her rival's corse,
She saw her husband dead.
He to his Lucy's new-made grave,
Convey'd by trembling swains,

One mould with her, beneath one sod,

For ever now remains.

CXXXVI

THE WITCHES' MEETING.

1st Witch. When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain !

2nd Witch. When the hurly-burley's done, When the battle's lost or won:

TICKELL.

3rd Witch. That will be ere set of sun.

1st Witch. Where the place?

Upon the heath;

There to meet with Macbeth.

2nd Witch.

3rd Witch.

All.

1st Witch.

2nd Witch.

3rd Witch. 1st Witch.

All.

Paddock calls:-anon

Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air

THE CHARM.

Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed, Thrice: and once the hedgehog whined. Harpier cries::- 'Tis time, 'tis time: Round about this caldron go: In the poisoned entrails throw. Toad, that under the cold stone, Days and nights hast thirty-one Sweltered venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i' the charmed pot! Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and, caldron, bubble. 2nd Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and, caldron, bubble.

All.

3rd Witch. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf;
Witch's mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravined salt sea shark;
Root of hemlock, digged i' the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Slivered in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips;
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our caldron.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and, caldron, bubble.
2nd Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

All.

SHAKESPEARE.

CXXXVII

FAIR HELEN.

I wish I were where Helen lies;
Night and day on me she cries;

O that I were where Helen lies
On fair Kirconnell lea!

Curst be the heart that thought the thought,
And curst the hand that fired the shot,
When in my arms loved Helen dropt,
And died to succour me!

O think na but my heart was sair

When my love dropped down and spak nae mair!
I laid her down wi mickle care

On fair Kirconnell lea.

As I went down the water-side,
None but my foe to be my guide,
None but my foe to be my guide,
On fair Kirconnell lea;

I lighted down my sword to draw,
I hack'ed him in pieces sma',
I hack'ed him in pieces sma',

For her sake that died for me.

O Helen fair, beyond compare!
I'll make a garland of thy hair
Shall bind my heart for evermair
Until the day I die.

O that I were where Helen lies!
Night and day on me she cries;
Out of my bed she bids me rise,

Says, "Haste and come to me!”

O Helen fair! O Helen chaste!
If I were with thee I were blest,
Where thou lies low and takes thy rest
On fair Kirconnell lea.

I wish my grave were growing green, A winding sheet drawn ower my een, And I in Helen's arms lying,

On fair Kirconnell lea.