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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: A GHOST STORY by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON

Poet Analysis

First Line: I LAY AWAKE PAST MIDNIGHT
Last Line: "PRAY DO NOT BE AFRAID!"
Subject(s): GHOSTS; NETHERLANDS; SUPERNATURAL; TRAVEL; HOLLAND; DUTCH PEOPLE; JOURNEYS; TRIPS;

I LAY awake past midnight:
The moon set o'er the snow:
The very cocks, for coldness,
Could neither sleep nor crow.

There came to me, near morning,
A woman pale and fair:
She seemed a monarch's daughter,
By the red gold round her hair.

The ring upon her finger
Was one that well I know:
I knew her fair face also,
For I had loved it so!

But I felt I saw a spirit,
And I was sore afraid;
For it is many and many a year
Ago, since she was dead.

I would have spoken to her,
But I could not speak, for fear:
Because it was a homeless ghost
That walked beyond its sphere;

Till her head from her white shoulders
She lifted up: and said...
@3"Look in! you'll find I'm hollow.
Pray do not be afraid!"@1



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