The Old Huntsman

There's a keen and grim old huntsman     On a horse as white as snow;     Sometimes he is very swift     And sometimes he is slow.     But he never is at fault,     For he always hunts at view     And he rides without a halt     After you.     The huntsman's name is Death,     His horse's name is Time;     He is coming, he is coming     As I sit and write this rhyme;     He is coming, he is coming,     As you read the rhyme I write;     You can hear the hoofs' low drumming     Day and night.     You can hear the distant drumming     As the clock goes tick-a-tack,     And the chiming of the hours     Is the music of his pack.     You may hardly note their growling     Underneath the noonday sun,     But at night you hear them howling     As they run.     And they never check or falter     For they never miss their kill;     Seasons change and systems alter,     But the hunt is running still.     Hark! the evening chime is playing,     O'er the long grey town it peals;     Don't you hear the death-hound baying     At your heels?     Where is there an earth or burrow?     Where a cover left for you?     A year, a week, perhaps to-morrow     Brings the Huntsman's death halloo!     Day by day he gains upon us,     And the most that we can claim     Is that when the hounds are on us     We die game.     And somewhere dwells the Master,     By whom it was decreed;     He sent the savage huntsman,     He bred the snow-white steed.     These hounds which run for ever,     He set them on your track;     He hears you scream, but never     Calls them back.     He does not heed our suing,     We never see his face;     He hunts to our undoing,     We thank him for the chase.     We thank him and we flatter,     We hope--because we must -     But have we cause? No matter!     Let us trust!