Songs of Action

    Master went a-hunting,
        When the leaves were falling;
    We saw him on the bridle path,
        We heard him gaily calling.
'Oh master, master, come you back,
For I have dreamed a dream so black!'
    A glint of steel from bit and heel,
        The chestnut cantered faster;
    A red flash seen amid the green,
        And so good-bye to master.

    Master came from hunting,
        Two silent comrades bore him;
    His eyes were dim, his face was white,
        The mare was led before him.
'Oh, master, master, is it thus
That you have come again to us?'
    I held my lady's ice-cold hand,
        They bore the hurdle past her;
    Why should they go so soft and slow?
        It matters not to master.