Classic Poem

AS TRANGER came to a rich man's door,
And smiled on his mighty feast;
And away his brightest child he bore,
And laid her toward the East.

He came next spring, with Asmile as gay,
(At the time when the East wind blows,)
And another bright creature he led away,
With a cheek like a burning rose.

And he came once more, when the spring was blue,
And whispered the last to rest,
And bore her away; yet nobody knew
The name of the dreadful guest!

Next year, there was none but the rich man left,
Left alone in his pride and pain,
And he 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!