And then toward me came

A shape as of a woman; very pale

It was, and calm; its cold eyes did not move,

And mine moved not, but only stared on them.

Their fixed awe went through my brain like ice;

A skeleton hand seemed clutching at my heart,

And a sharp chill, as if a dank night-fog

Suddenly closed me in, was all I felt.

And then, methought, I heard a freezing sigh,