Gaunt and gnarl'd
Reflecteth the silver shield this welkin aghast
And with haste translateth to gild'd black post and fast
Anon, anon, say I, the lid, the lid aside
Crawl without this velvet-clad coffin blest
The bottom sand of the hourglass is at tide
'Tis and hath e'er been merry blood to pest
To be adust for time longer can I not bide
Hence the heart hale out thro' the chest
Misery thee? Rather misery me
For in Time's durance am I naught but wee
Sensing thispine is as deep as the deepest chasm
Hither! Cede and fulfil my phantasm
Cherish me and sonorously do me laud
For dread! Thine eyes will behold a guise faugh'd
This tender and loving pest I to thee bequeath
Thence switly wilt thou errant to 'Neath
And to me should'st thou be the humblemost knave
Lest fear, spit I on thy cist and grave
Lest leer I at thee and do bewitch
And the tharms fluttering claw'd and eldritch
To conquer thee and thy blood for glore
Art thou my afeard and reluctant whore
Irksomely coy, save wiliéd by alarum
Bear this torture and maim with decorum
One candle left to burn now, before the darkness comes
If e'er always was I this blissful and blithe
Would I resign to but its wee tithe?
Purvey my ache and quench my profoundest urge
And to thee will I sing the lull-dull dirge
Deliver thy blood like the rill filleth the ghyll
Burrow to the trothplight with Night and Devil
Bid Him to league with me, forsooth, merry to 'come 'twill
Whilom wast thou vestal, yet now flit to thy tryst
Elsewise will I coerce thine consonantry to turn whist
Grasp I the snath and cut off thine breath
So that thou canst in darkness and inferno vester
For do I solely what He to me liefly saith
Death, oh, fair and 'guiling copesmate Death
Be not a malais'd beggar, claim this bloody jester
Claim this bloody jester
