GOBLIN MOON
Tonight the goblin moon burns red
And ghost clouds sail across the sky,
As, one by one, the restless dead
Go marching slowly by.
Tonight a chill rides on the breeze
As down a long and crooked trail
Strange shadows skitter through the trees
And stars grow deathly pale.
Once down that long and lonely trail
My fearful charger picked his way,
We shuddered at the North wind's wail
And prayed for break of day.
But it was yet the midnight hour
When devils prowl and banshees cry,
And shining through an oaken bower
The goblin moon was high.
The goblin moon is white as snow
And old men know its eerie light
Can set the will-o'-wisps aglow
And fill men's hearts with fright.
For on such nights, so legends tell
The goblin hordes are round about,
They open up the gates of Hell
And let night's demons out.
No nightmare born of rarebit stew
Could match the horrors of that night
As thick with ghosts as witches' brew
And not a soul in sight.
Across the land with whip in hand
I spurred the frightened charger on,
He sprang like fire at my command
Though hope and strength were gone.
Through wood and fen and back again
We raced to meet the coming dawn,
But witchcraft charmed my horse's rein
And turned his feet to stone.
We wound up in a wooded glade
Where screech owls cried and bats took wing,
And demons pranced in promenade
Before their goblin king.
The goblin king is wintry blue,
His teeth are sharp icicle spears,
With long white hair and crooked shoe
And pointy elfin ears.
"Who dares intrude upon my court?"
The goblin monarch bellowed forth,
"A mortal man," a sprite replied,
"Atop a mortal horse."
"No man hath seen the goblin throne
Whose flesh and bone were not long dead,
Before this hallowed night hath flown
I'll have this mortal's head!"
Throughout the glade the dead men rose
With gaping skulls and empty eyes,
And every time the North wind blows
I still can hear their cries.
The dead men closed around my steed
And reached for me with bony hands,
I cracked my whip with lightning speed
And galloped through their bands.
Across the glade and through the wood
Then down the long and crooked trail,
We raced before the demon brood
Fierce as a South Seas gale.
At last we reached an open field
That marked the haunted forest's end,
Lights from a nearby town revealed
That help was 'round the bend.
The streets were dark, the doors locked tight
The little town was shuttered fast,
Down by the bay, a tavern light
Called to me as I passed.
I hitched my charger to the post
And knocked upon the wooden door,
Was greeted by the friendly host
Then dropped upon the floor.
Next morning I awoke to find
Myself upon a feather bed,
'Twas but a dream that I'd resigned
To banish from my head.
I rushed downstairs to break my fast
The morning sky was flush with light,
But as I passed a looking glass
I saw my hair'd turned white.
So hear my words and mark them well
Beware the moon that burns blood red,
Beware the wicked goblins' spell
And stay at home instead.
Beware the deadly goblin moon
Bolt up your doors and windows tight
The devil's hour comes all too soon
When dead men walk the night.
Tonight the goblin moon is high
When demons fly and ghosts take wing,
And brush the stars from out the sky
To hide their goblin king.
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