Squire at the Crossroads

The crossroads was a lonely place
Where I first met the Squire.
His suit was clean and neatly cut,
His eyes burned with dark fire.
He offered me his grasping claw,
He struck a graceful stance;
And so it was I bowed to him
And joined him for a dance.

O toss your head with the crumpled horn,
And stir the trodden dust!
The music plays through night and morn
And dance, o dance we must.

I danced with Squire Beelzebub—
We danced the night away,
Then came the dawn, then came the sun,
Then came the spreading day.
The Squire stretched out his claw to show
The roads that I might take,
But fog was o'er the roads all three
And I began to quake.

Quake not, spake Squire Beelzebub,
I'll tell you of their ending:
The leftmost road leads to a hoard
Of gold, with none defending.
The middle road leads to a throne,
And many there are bowed;
The right road is an endless life,
Of age and fortune proud.

O whip the air with your forkéd tail,
And make the cobbles sing!
To dance to the merry crossroads tune
Is a sweet and jolly thing.
But blades and shields and brooches fade,
And break and turn to rust—
But the music plays from year to year
And dance, o dance we must.

Then parted that infernal mist
That lay across the way,
And I could see a mile and more—
Could see it clear as day.
I saw the endings he'd described,
That Squire Beelzebub,
And saw them fair, and saw them foul:
Aye both—that was the rub.

For the gold that lay beneath the stars
Was cold and dim as death,
And the endless life beneath the sun
Was a wheezing, dying breath,
And the throne that towered 'neath the moon
Was built on blood and bones;
And I stared in fear at the pathways' end
As we danced on the battered stones.

O beat the time with a cloven hoof,
And spare me your cruel choice!
Release me from your bondage foul,
Give back to me my voice!
I'll flee from you, o damnéd Squire,
To where I was before;
I'll seek the place I came from once,
And dance, o dance no more.

Wee fool, spake Squire Beelzebub,
You know not whom you see.
Your past, your future, both they are
Chainéd and bound to me.
From youngest days, through tender years,
'twas certain I would find you—
I led you to this crossroads;
I laid the road behind you.

Then laughed the Squire a fiendish laugh,
And stamped the dusty road,
And danced into the setting sun
That on the sky-marge glowed.
He left me here without a word,
Yet music trailed behind him;
And in my heart I cannot doubt
That I, at last, must find him.

And so I stayed at this crossroads
Through all my mortal life.
Between its forks I built a house,
Upon it wed a wife.
I dare not stray down any road,
I dare not take the chance:
I and my children after me
Must guard this place, and dance.

O, let the fiddles brightly play!
O, beat the silver drums!
But keep a watch upon the road
To see who hither comes.
If it be one with claws and cloak,
With eyes of blackest fire—
Beware, beware, you foolish folk,
Do not dance with the Squire!