But awfully the truant shunn'd the ground,

The vagrant kept aloof, and daring Poacher;

In spite of gaps that thro' the fences round

Invited the encroacher.

For over all there hung a cloud of fear,

A sense of mystery the spirit daunted,

And said, as plain as whisper in the ear,

The place is Haunted!

The pear and quince lay squander'd on the grass;

The mould was purple with unheeded showers