Once upon an autumn evening, waiting for the leaves to fall,
We were gathered in the local when a stranger came to call.
He was too tall for the doorway, and he stooped as he came in,
Then he looked around the taproom with a broad and wicked grin.
He ordered beer and whisky, and he bought the house a round,
As he said he’d need no money in the place where he was bound.
“For they’ve set the Hunt upon me, and they’ll catch me, by and by,
But I’m claiming Odin’s Justice, and I’ll look Death in the eye.”

If he’d only spoke up sooner we’d have thrown him out the door,
But now we’d drunk his liquor (and, quite frankly, hoped for more),
So we gathered in around him, and we pressed him for his tale,
And we hoped that he was joking about the Wild Hunt on his trail.
“Oh, I’ve never been a good man; I’ve never even really tried;
I’ve sampled all the seven sins; I’ve stolen, and I’ve lied.
But I’ve never run from danger, I have always held my place,
And I’m claiming Odin’s Justice, and I’ll look Death in the face.”

Then we heard the Hunt’s horns blowing, and we heard the Hunt’s hounds howl,
And we scurried into cover to the stranger’s sullen scowl.
The fear was like a blanket, like a suffocating shroud,
And we whimpered in our corners; we were paralyzed and cowed.
The stranger drained his whisky and he turned to face the door;
His back was straight, his head held high, as he strode across the floor.
He stooped to cross the threshold and stepped out into the night,
To claim a brave man’s justice against the Hunt Lord’s fright.

We heard the Hunt departing, and we went back to our beer,
And in time forgot the stranger, and the cloud of crippling fear.
The next year, on the very night, the stranger came again;
He bought a round and laughed when someone asked him where he’d been.
“Why, the same place that I’m going when I leave tonight, my friends;
I’ve been following the Hunter on the Hunt that never ends.
For the Hunt has its own justice, and it lets no one go free;
If you will not run before it, then you must a Hunter be.”

Paul Haynie
10/20/2001