The Midnight Murder

T'was night! the stars were

shrouded in a vail of mist; a

clouded canopy o'er hung the

earth; the vivid lightnings

and shook their fiery

darts upon the earth; the deep

toned thunder rolled along the

vaulted sky; the elements were

in wild commotion; the storm

spirit howeled in the air; the

winds whistled; the hail stones

fell like leaden balls; the huge

undulations of the ocean dashed

upon the rock bound shore; and

torrents leaped from the mountain

tops; when the murderer sprung

from his sleep less couch with

vengence on his brow - murder

in his heart, and the fell in-

strument of distruction in his

hand.

The storm increased; the

lightening flashed with brighter

glare; the thunder growled with

deeper energy; the winds whistled

with wilder fury; the confusion

of the hour was congenial to

his soul, and in his bosom; he

clenched his weapon with a

sterner grasp; a demonic smile

gathered on his lips; he grated

his teeth; raised his arm

and sprung with a yell of

triumph upon his victum, and

relentlessly kille - a
mosquit0.





Punctuation as written.
I have found no copy of this anywhere - so consider it a Mudcat score.

Within a volume of verse titled, "Beautiful Gems of Thought and Sentiment"
Volumne inscribed to Jessie Harbaugh, 1891
Lies, between the pages, an eloquently handwritten copy.
I memorized and recited it for many years in my youth


(YIKES - There is a another handwritten manuscript within the book)
THE MURDERER
(captioned "An unpublished poem by Edward Poe")