With merely an interjectional oh! Back he rolls in the flames again. “Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!" That second fall Seems the very best joke of all, To judge by the roar, Twice as loud as before, That fills the Hut from the roof to the floor, To take up the fun, Ere the shaggy Felons have cause to quake, And begin to feel that the deed they have done, Instead of being a pleasant one, Was a very great error—and no mistake. For why?-in lieu Of its former hue, So natural, warm, and florid, The Furnace burns of a brimstone blue, And instead of the couleur de rose it threw, With a cooler reflection,-justly dueExhibits each of the Pagan crew, Livid, ghastly, and horrid! But vainly they close their guilty eyes Or with hard and horny palms devise There are sounds in the air, Irresistible voices everywhere, And to match the screams, Tremendous gleams, Of Horrors that like the Phantoms of dreams Shapes, that within the focus bright Of the Forge, are like shadows and blots; But farther off, in the shades of night, Clothed with their own phosphoric light, Are seen in the darkest spots. From Hags, in a diabolical clatter— Owls that screech, and dogs that yell— And limbs to scatter, And who it is that must furnish the latter Those blue-looking men know well! Like timid lamb, and ewe, and wether, In a similar way, Fit for knocking down with a feather! The gathering Goblins hover about, The unearthly smell That fumes from the Furnace, chimney and mouth, Draws them in-an infernal Legion From East, and West, and North, and South, Like carrion birds from ev'ry region, Till not a yard square Of the sickening air But has a Demon or two for its share, Never, never was such a sight! It beats the very Walpurgis Night, Display'd in the story of Doctor Faustus, Of the awful tribe, If we were two Göthes would quite exhaust us! Suffice it, amid that dreary swarm, Begot in its worst delirium ; Besides some others of monstrous size, Never before revealed to eyes, Of the genus Megatherium! Meanwhile the demons, filthy and foul, As a dirge for their late commander; Who stoutly fights, and struggles, and kicks, And tries the best of his wrestling tricks, No paltry strife, But for life, dear life, But the ruthless talons refuse to unfix, With starting eyes and black in the face, With whom, at that very particular nick, In a recent bloody affair No wonder feeling a little sick, With pulses beating uncommonly quick, Three paces, or four, And he gains the door; But ere he accomplishes one, The sound of a blow comes, heavy and dull, Red gash on the forehead With a roll of the eyeballs perfectly horrid, There's a tremulous quiver, The last death-shiver, And Red-Beard's course is run! Halloo! Halloo ! They have done for two! But a heavyish job remains to do! A couple of Cyclops make a stand, For the sulphurous smoke |