NOTES 257
And he smote upon the door a second tiiftc ;
a Is there anybody there ? » he said. But no one descended to the Traveller ;
No head from the leaf-fringed siil Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still. But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To thaf voice from the world of men : Stood thronging the faint moonbeanis on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall. Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller's call. And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry, While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
Neath the starred and leafy sky ; For he suddenly smote on the door, evcn
Louder, and lifted his head : — oc Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word », he said. Never the least stir made the listeners, . - Though every word he spake Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake : Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone. And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone '.
I. « Quelqu'un est-il là 1), dit le voyageur,
Frappant à la porte que la lune éclairait ;
Et son cheval dans le silence mâchait les herbes
Du tapis de fougères de la forêt ;
Et un oiseau s'envola hors de la tourelle,
Au-dessus de la tète du voyageur ;
Et celui-ci cogna à la porte une seconde fois ;
« Quelqu'un est-il là », dit-il.
Mais personne ne descendit ouvrir au voyageur ;
Par-dessus l'allège feuillue, nulle tête
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