Dark Portents

The end was nigh, he scanned the sky

For portents, dark and deep,

He’d sensed some troubled signs within

While tossing in his sleep.

He told his wife to pack some things,

The least that they would need,

But she said, ‘You must leave alone,

I’m staying here, God speed!’

 

He found he couldn’t change her mind,

No matter that he tried,

He told her of the darker times

That he had sensed, inside.

But she was quite content, she said,

‘In fact I’m quite serene,

I shall not run before the tide,

It may be but a dream!’

 

The Castle walls with hallowed halls

Held shadows grim and bleak,

Where muttered shades from former days

Would flit from moat to keep,

From tower, to hall, to bedchamber,

He cast his nervous eyes,

Where even in the flagstoned floors

He thought, ‘There evil lies!’

 

The evening skies were tinctured with

A weird orange glow,

And then the Moon rose up above,

A baneful, blood-red show,

While winds that howled like none before

Now clattered at the eaves,

And whispered down the chimney’s core,

‘God help the one that leaves!’

 

He wandered round the halls at night

And shook in some dread fear,

At sounds of chains, and distant pains

Deep in his inner ear.

He stood up at the battlements

And scanned the dark surround,

Where gargoyles leered, to spout their cheer

All on the hallowed ground.

 

‘But surely you must hear them, Maud,

They’re plain, so plain to me!’

‘I only hear the chirping bird

That flits in yonder tree.

Perhaps your mind has been disturbed,

You need to rest at night,

I’ll lock you in the Castle Keep

Until your dreams take flight.’

 

That night, asleep, but fitfully

He heard a horse’s hooves,

That clattered in the courtyard, echoed

With its iron shoes.

And then he heard his wife, who whispered

Like some painted w***e,

‘He’s almost driven mad, I’ve locked

Him in, and barred the door.’

 

Then like a charm that runs its course

And sets its victim free,

He knew that she’d been feeding him

With Belladonna tea.

He waited for an hour, and then

Burst hinges on the door,

And sought his wife’s bedchamber

Where her lover felt secure.

 

‘I told you I’d sensed darker times,

Such darker times, for you!’

He said as he approached the bed

And ran her lover through.

He raised the sword that dripped with blood

Then stood with drooping head,

While she went pale, to no avail,

In moments, she was dead!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Woody]

I agree, it's got the hallmarks of Poe. but one can recognize your style at telling a story in verse.
riveting as usual, David.

[R Smith]

your so good at telling a story David and they just get better and better, i love this one and the dark deeds therein I agree with Momzilla it has a very Poe feel to it and also your usual hint towards humour, its just great fun to read.

[MomzillaNC]

You paint such a vivid scene and fill it with dread. This one was rather Poe-esque. I was riveted.

[TPK Stories]

Another tale-twisting story, loved it.