The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Near the “sequestered glen,” by the Tappan Zee, Ichabod came, “lank and lean,” in reverie; a psalm-book pedagogue, with appetite and dread, where “supernatural tales” were the town’s own bread. “The dominant spirit that haunts the place”— Sleepy Hollow, show your spectral face; the “galloping Hessian” rides the night, and “reason” flickers, pale and slight. Hoofbeat, shadow, gone from sight: the Hollow keeps its fright. At Van Tassel’s hearth, where Katrina smiled, Brom Bones sat broad, and the air grew wild; then the bridge, the lane, the sudden chase— and the midnight rider left no face. “The dominant spirit that haunts the place”— Sleepy Hollow, show your spectral face; the “galloping Hessian” rides the night, and “reason” flickers, pale and slight. Hoofbeat, shadow, gone from sight: the Hollow keeps its fright. Call it tale, call it warning, call it fear: the “dominant spirit” lingers here.