Sire Williams journeyed in the forest lone;

And then night’s thickening shades began to fill

His soul with doubt—for shelter he had none—

And all the outstretched waste was clad with one

XLII.

Vast mantle hoar. And he began to hear,

At times, the fox’s bark, and the fierce howl

Of wolf, sometimes afar—sometimes so near,

That in the very glen they seemed to prowl