THE HOUSE OF NIGHT; OR SIX HOURS LODGING WITH DEATH The yew, the myrtle, and the church-yard

elm,

The cypress, with its melancholy green.

15

40

26

31

And o'er his head flew jealousies and cares,
Ghosts, imps, and half the black Tartarian

Thus he But at my hand a portly youth
Of comely countenance, began to tell,
'That this was Death upon his dying bed,
'Sullen, morose, and peevish to be well;

i

THE HOUSE OF NIGHT; OR SIX HOURS LODGING WITH DEATH 33

And bade those distant sounds distinctly roll,
Which, waking, never had affected me.] 160

120

This fabric tall, with towers and chancels grac'd,

Was rais'd by sinners' hands, in ages fled; 190 The roof they painted, and the beams they brac'd,

And texts from scripture o'er the walls they spread: