Malediction Of The Dullahan

A nightly stroll in the countryside in Ireland, leads to the encounter with the dreaded Dullahan.

'Twas the year 1868, I still recall clearly,
That frightful day of the dreary Autumn,
As I met the horrible fiend that men fear,
After the gloaming of the eerie e'entide.

Along the boreen of a fresh countryside,
When I was strolling one bleak October,
I witness'd the death of the poor wretch,
Who an assassin had quell'd afterwards.

He was not too fond of prying strangers 
Witnessing the act of a masterful carnage,
By a headless soul riding on a black horse, 
With a wagon of candles of shining skulls.

Suddenly, I heard a crack of a lashing whip, 
And saw a macabre head of a hideous grin, 
As the spokes of the wheels of bones spun,
When my feet had hasten'd to run far away.

Soon he follow'd me through the dusty road,
And onto a tenebrous bog of cawing ravens;
But I could not eschew ere, his eyes of dread
That steer'd him as the madman in the murk.

Alas, the ominous pall of the dried human skin
Of a doom'd body who bore the mark of death,
Who perish'd forthwith as his name was call'd.
When he stopp'd ridding with the winds of hell.

The demon of the night was the unseelie fairy,
Who had stalk'd the fools who were condemn'd
To those stygian halls of the dwellers of Hades,
Where the accurst rot away within the cinders.

But I was fortunate, to escape his ghastly ire
Of the eternal bereavement and nothingness,
With the blessing of my golden trinket I wore,
Around my neck to thwart the evil spirits nigh.

O I shall not dare to forget his unsightly guise
Of sheer terror of a haunt'd presence of demise,
As he scurried then into the darkness of the night,
Under the frightening malediction of the Dullahan.

Beware of the Dullahan..

Reviews

[softlyfall]

Abslolutely WONDERFUL! Your vocablulary is ecxciting and intelligent, the story is bh old and new, the meter along with the internal rhyme, slant rhyme and end rhyme all create a wonderful lyrical flow.

[Franc Rodriguez]

Thank you, and this poem was inspired, by the Irish tale of the headless horseman.

[softlyfall]

I realize that, and its one of my favorites

[Franc Rodriguez]

I truly enjoy writing about tales of folklore.