The Valley of Dreadful Night

He hid in the fields and hedgerows,

And skirted the towns by night,

He lay in the barns of deserted farms

To sleep, when the time was right.

He always kept one step ahead

Of the pack that would hunt him down,

And stole his food in the neighbourhood

Of the cottages, far from town!

 

He thought of his love, his Jenny,

And gave out a savage cry,

He’d found her lying with Jack Malone

Like a pig, in a rutting sty,

He’d plunged the dagger into the heart

Of his love, and his one delight,

Then watched the fire leach out of her eyes

To the Valley of Dreadful Night!

 

Malone, he’d left as a warning,

His throat slit ear to ear,

No more was the great philanderer

To bed any woman here,

He propped him up at the old crossroads,

He nailed his corpse to a tree,

And left a sign: ‘I was caught in crime,

Now look what’s happened to me!’

 

His nights, they were black and broken

By dreams that troubled his sleep,

For Jenny would seem to be woken

From the depths of a bottomless creek,

She raged in his shallow nightmares,

What she said would leave him agape:

‘I never loved any man but you,

It was simply a case of rape!'

 

Then he moaned and cried in confusion,

And he wept ‘til he lay awake,

With his tear-stained face now broken,

With the loss of his heartfelt hate,

And he mourned the loss of his Jenny,

The girl with the wide, bright eyes,

And he cursed himself for a felon,

And the life that he now despised!

 

They found him there in the morning,

They beat, and bound him in chain,

Then dragged him off to the magistrates

As he sank in his pit of pain.

The judge put on the dread black cap

And thundered the words that he said:

‘I have no choice but to sentence you

To be hanged by the neck, ‘til dead!’

 

The sun, it was barely rising,

He could hear the birds from his cell,

Fluttering up in the willow tree

By the gallows, his personal hell,

They looped the rope down over his neck

And he said: 'It’s only right!’

As he crashed down into a dreamless sleep

In the Valley of Dreadful Night!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[ROSALIND]

No wonder you are brilliant found this on the internet You are a published poet.
poet David Lewis Paget

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Biography of David Lewis Paget
David Lewis Paget poet

AUSTRALIAN POET. Born in Nottingham, lived in Great Barr, Birmingham, until the age of 13, when migrated to Australia. Lived in Adelaide, joined Air Force at 21 and became Instrument Fitter. Began writing poetry during duty crew and guard weekends. In 1976 fulltime to Flinders University of South Australia, Bachelors degree in English and History. Wrote and published a magazine for the unemployed called 'Bread'. Wrote and published monthly magazines 'Trader's Gate' and 'Central Yorke Peninsula Mercury' for three years in the late 1980's. Ran printing and publishing business Mushroom Graphics until 1990, then Cottage Print until 2005. Gave up poetry for five years, and wrote eight novels in the early 2000's.
Until recently was Teaching English at Wenzhou Medical College, an arm of the Wenzhou University, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. The experience there prompted another foray into poetry, leading to the current narrative style chosen for the second incarnation. Now retired and living in South Australia. Author of the non-fiction 'Arrows from Wenzhou', a detailed account of the twelve months spent in China.
Concentrates these days on narrative poetry.

David Lewis Paget's Published Books:

Poetry Collections -
Stand Up & Be Counted - 1974
The Venus Bird - 1974
Terra Australis Incognita - 1975
Ishtar - 1977
Bitter Harvest - 1977
Weep - 1980
Inspirators - 1981
Spoils of War - 1984
Cader Rook - 1996
Perspectives in a Black Season - 2003
The Red Knight - 2003
.

[Octob3r Star]

Like a tale from Poe. This has amazing power to it.

[Jas Alejandrino Ramos]

this is what you called talent! it a long poem which most readers do not really want BUT it has a good and interesting first two stanzas which is really important in capturing the attention of the readers...but all in all this a great poem!:))

[Bidu Ibrahim]

This is a great piece from a great poet! Thanks Tate for sharing this.

[Anthony M Smith Jr]

HaHo(Hello),
The poem started out strong and went berserk! I have heard a few old time stories that were told to warn the young to be very careful when it comes to issues of the heart and feelings! I seen civilized and savages act the same way, like cancer, does not care who you are.
Awesome poem! Thanks for sharing!
Life and light!
TT-TTO-NI-K
Elk

[Alex Vandool]

Brilliant

[S. Michael Long]

This is awesome!

[Lumière Dé..]

The rhythm, the storey, everything. You certainley captured me by the first line. Wonderful.

[Me]

This is nicely written, good flow and emotion.

[ba_mcfarlane]

Flat out brilliant.