On a related note, try these spooky books for Halloween too!
#1. Remember
Excerpt: Remember me when I am gone away,
#2. When I am Dead, my Dearest
Excerpt: When I am dead, my dearest,
#3. After Death
Excerpt: The curtains were half drawn, the floor was swept And strewn with rushes, rosemary and may Lay thick upon the bed on which I lay, Where through the lattice ivy-shadows crept. He leaned above me, thinking that I slept And could not hear him; but I heard him say, ‘Poor child, poor child’: and as he turned away Came a deep silence, and I knew he wept.
#4. A Dirge
Excerpt: Why were you born when the snow was falling? You should have come to the cuckoo’s calling, Or when grapes are green in the cluster, Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster For their far off flying From summer dying.
#5. Song
Excerpt: Oh roses for the flush of youth, And laurel for the perfect prime; But pluck an ivy branch for me° Grown old before my time.
#6. A Chilly Night
Excerpt: I rose at the dead of night, And went to the lattice alone To look for my Mother’s ghost Where the ghostly moonlight shone.
#7. Life Hidden
Excerpt: Roses and lilies grow above the place Where she sleeps the long sleep that doth not dream. If we could look upon her hidden face Nor shadow would be there nor garish gleam Of light: her life is lapsing like a stream That makes no noise but floweth on apace Seawards; while many a shade and shady beam Vary the ripples in their gliding chase.
#8. One Sea-Side Grave
Excerpt: Unmindful of the roses, Unmindful of the thorn, A reaper tired reposes Among his gathered corn: So might I, till the morn!
#9. The Bourne
Excerpt: Underneath the growing grass, Underneath the living flowers, Deeper than the sound of showers: There we shall not count the hours By the shadows as they pass.
#10. Sister Maude
Excerpt: Who told my mother of my shame, Who told my father of my dear? Oh who but Maude, my sister Maude, Who lurked to spy and peer.
#11. ‘SO I grew Half Delirious and Quite Sick’
Excerpt: So I grew half delirious and quite sick, And thro’ the darkness saw strange faces grin Of Monsters at me. One put forth a fin, And touched me clammily: I could not pick A quarrel with it: it began to lick My hand, making meanwhile a piteous din
#12. ‘Mirage’
Excerpt: The hope I dreamed of was a dream, Was but a dream; and now I wake Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old, For a dream’s sake.
#13. Amor Mundi
Excerpt: ‘Oh, where are you going with your love-locks flowing On the west wind blowing along this valley track?’ ‘The downhill path is easy, come with me an it please ye, We shall escape the uphill by never turning back.’
