They bound him strong with leathern thong,

For the ride to the lady should be long.

Day was dying; the poplars fled,

Thin as ghosts, on a sky blood-red;

Out of the sky the fierce hue fell,

And made the streams as the streams of hell.

All his thoughts as a river flowed,

Flowed aflame as fleet he rode,

Onward flowed to her abode,

Ceased at her feet, mirrored her face.