Pike County Ballads and Other Poems

THE STIRRUP-CUP.

  My short and happy day is done,
  The long and dreary night comes on;
  And at my door the Pale Horse stands,
  To carry me to unknown lands.

  His whinny shrill, his pawing hoof,
  Sound dreadful as a gathering storm;
  And I must leave this sheltering roof,
  And joys of life so soft and warm.

  Tender and warm the joys of life,—
  Good friends, the faithful and the true;
  My rosy children and my wife,
  So sweet to kiss, so fair to view.

  So sweet to kiss, so fair to view,—
  The night comes down, the lights burn blue;
  And at my door the Pale Horse stands,
  To bear me forth to unknown lands.