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Voice on the Wind, and Other Poems

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<h2>THE OWLET</h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <h4>I</h4> When dusk is drowned in drowsy dreams, And slow the hues of sunset die; When firefly and moth go by, And in still streams the new-moon gleams, A sickle in the sky; Then from the hills there comes a cry, The owlet's cry; A shivering voice that sobs and screams, That, frightened, screams: </div> <div class="stanza"> "Who is it, who is it, who? Who rides through the dusk and dew, With a pair o' horns, As thin as thorns, And face a bubble blue? Who, who, who! Who is it, who is it, who?" </div> <div class="stanza"> <h4>II</h4> When night has dulled the lily's white, And opened wide the primrose eyes; When pale mists rise and veil the skies, And 'round the height in whispering flight The night-wind sounds and sighs; Then in the woods again it cries, The owlet cries; A shivering voice that calls in fright, In maundering fright: </div> <div class="stanza"> [Pg 18] "Who is it, who is it, who? Who walks with a shuffling shoe, 'Mid the gusty trees, With a face none sees, And a form as ghostly too? Who, who, who! Who is it, who is it, who?" </div> <div class="stanza"> <h4>III</h4> When midnight leans a listening ear And tinkles on her insect lutes; When 'mid the roots the cricket flutes, And marsh and mere, now far, now near, A jack-o'-lantern foots; Then o'er the pool again it hoots, The owlet hoots; A voice that shivers as with fear, That cries in fear: </div> <div class="stanza"> "Who is it, who is it, who? Who creeps with his glow-worm crew Above the mire With a corpse-light fire, As only dead men do? Who, who, who! Who is it, who is it, who?" </div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> [Pg 19] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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