"Away, away, my steed and I, Upon the pinions of the wind. All human dwellings left behind; 425 We sped like meteors through the sky, When with its crackling sound the night Is chequer'd with the northern light. Town--village--none were on our track, But a wild plain of far extent, 430 And bounded by a forest black; And, save the scarce seen battlement On distant heights of some stronghold, Against the Tartars built of old, No trace of man: the year before 435 A Turkish army had march'd o'er; And where the Spahi's[139] hoof hath trod, The verdure flies the bloody sod. The sky was dull, and dim, and gray, And a low breeze crept moaning by-- 440 I could have answer'd with a sigh-- But fast we fled, away, away-- And I could neither sigh nor pray; And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain Upon the courser's bristling mane; 445 But, snorting still with rage and fear, He flew upon his far career. At times I almost thought, indeed, He must have slacken'd in his speed; But no--my bound and slender frame 450 Was nothing to his angry might, And merely like a spur became: Each motion which I made to free My swoln limbs from their agony Increased his fury and affright: 455 I tried my voice,--'twas faint and low, But yet he swerved as from a blow; And, starting to each accent, sprang As from a sudden trumpet's clang. Meantime my cords were wet with gore, 460 Which, oozing through my limbs, ran o'er; And in my tongue the thirst became A something fierier far than flame. XII