Page:Masterpieces of German literature volume 7.djvu/504

 440 THE BOY ON THE MOOR (1841)

' an eerie thing o'er the moor to fare

When the eddies of peat-smoke justle,

When the wraiths of mist whirl here and there

And wind-blown tendrils tussle,

When every step starts a hidden spring

And the trodden moss-tufts hiss and sing—

'Tis an eerie thing o 'er the moor to fare

When the tangled reed-beds rustle.

The child with his primer sets out alone

And speeds as if he were hunted,

The wind goes by with a hollow moan—

There's a noise in the hedge-row stunted.

'Tis the turf-digger's ghost, near-by he dwells,

And for drink his master's turf he sells.

"Whoo! whoo!" comes a sound like a stray cow's groan;

The poor boy's courage is daunted.

Then stumps loom up beside the ditch,

Uncannily nod the the bushes,

The boy running on, each nerve a-twitch,

Through a jungle of spear-grass pushes.

And where it trickles and crackles apace

Is the Spinner's unholy hiding-place,

The home of the cursed Spinning-witch

Who turns her wheel 'mid the rushes.

On, ever on, goes the fearsome rout,

In pursuit through that region fenny,

At each wild stride the bubbles burst out.

And the sounds from beneath are many.

Until at length from the midst of the din

Comes the squeak of a spectral violin,

That must be the rascally fiddler lout

Who ran off with the bridal penny!