The Vampyre

"Young Sigismund, my once dear friend,

But now my persecutor foul,

Doth his malevolence extend

E'en to the torture of my soul.

By night, when, wrapt in soundest sleep,

All mortals share a soft repose,

My soul doth dreadful vigils keep,

More keen than which hell scarcely knows."
~ John Stagg (1770-1823)