Tobari-chan: Yay, a pretty poem. If you've read the poem 'The highway man' and like Inuyasha and Yuyu Hakusho, You might like this one. I revised it alot... but I think its good. I think I messed some parts up.
Manda-chan: Loser.
Tobari-chan: Hey... You're not nice. Just cause you're gonna be going to Austrailia doesn't mean you have to be all snippy.
Manda-chan: ...Anyways... Tobari-chan does not own this poem, Inuyasha, or YuYu Hakusho. But she does own 5 of the Inuyasha DVD's, a fanfiction, and a Kurama wallpaper. Enjoy.
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the demon theif came running—
Running—running—
The demon theif came running, up to the old inn-door.
II
He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a necklace under his chin,
A vest of the black silk, and breeches of white;
They fitted with a casual wrinkle: his boots were up to the ankle,
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His beautiful necklace a-twinkle,
His scythe a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
III
Over the cobbles he ran and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his knuckle on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's blue-eyed daughter,
Kagome, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
IV
And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Hojo the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the theif say—
V
"One kiss, my koi, I'm after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
VI
He rose onto his toes; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet, black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he lightly grasped his necklace in the moonliglt, and ran away to the West.
PART TWO
I
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
When the road was a geisha's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A mercinary troop came riding—
Riding—riding—
The Shojun's men came riding, up to the old inn-door.
II
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his sake instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Kagome could see, through her casement, the road that Kuronue would ride.
III
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now, keep good watch!" and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say—
Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!
IV
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
V
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain .
VI
Chink-chink,Had they heard it? The gold's clinking ringing clear;
Chink-chink, in the near distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The demon theif came running,
Running, running!
The men looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still!
VII
Chink-chink, in the frosty silence! Chink-chink, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death.
VIII
He turned; he spurred to the West; he did not know who stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Not till the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Kagome, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's blue-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
IX
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his weapon brandished high!
Blood-red was his cherished necklace i' the golden noon; wine-red was his silk vest,
When they shot him down on the road,
Down like a dog on the road,
And he lay in his blood on the road, with his cherished necklace under his throat.
X
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A demon theif comes running—
Running—running—
A demon theif comes running, up to the old inn-door.
XI
Over the cobbles he runs and clashes in the dark inn-yard;
He taps with his knuckle on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's blue-eyed daughter,
Kagome, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
Tobari-chan: If anyone wants to help me revise it when they see something that doesn't fit... please put it in one of your reviews and I'll try to fix it.
Manda-chan: By try, she means, WILL. And if she doesn't, I'll slap her silly and then bury her alive. Haha.