Page:Collected poems Robinson, Edwin Arlington.djvu/199

 And there were the pipes, and there was the punch, And somewhere were twelve years ; So it came, in the manner of things unsought, That a quick knock vexed our ears. The night wind hovered and shrieked and snarled, And I heard Fingal swear ; Then I opened the door but I found no more Than a chalk-skinned woman there. I looked, and at last, "What is it?" I said "What is it that we can do ?" But never a word could I get from her But "You you three it is you!" Now the sense of a crazy speech like that Was more than a man could make; So I said, "But we we are what, we three?" And I saw the creature shake. "Be quick !" she cried, "for I left her dead And I was afraid to come; But you, you three God made it be Will ferry the dead girl home. "Be quick! be quick! but listen to that Who is that makes it ? hark !" But I heard no more than a knocking splash  And a wind that shook the dark.  "It is only the wind that blows," I said,  "And the boat that rocks outside."  And I watched her there, and I pitied her there  "Be quick ! be quick !" she cried.