And bore her away,—yet nobody knew
The name of the fearful guest!
Next year, there was none but the rich man left,—
Left alone in his pride and pain,
Who called on the stranger, like one bereft,
And sought through the land,—in vain!
He came not: he never was heard nor seen
Again; (so the story saith;)
But, wherever his terrible smile had been,
Men shuddered, and talked of—Death!