𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑜𝓂 𝒞𝑜𝒶𝒸𝒽

“The Phantom Coach” is a ghost story by British author Amelia B. Edwards, first published in 1864. On a cold winter’s night, a traveller loses his way on a snow-covered moor and, under the cover of darkness, is drawn ever deeper into an eerie encounter between reality and the supernatural. 👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻 [Verse 1] One winter’s eve I crossed the moor alone, Through fields of frost where neither road was known. The daylight died, the eastern wind blew cold, And snow came down across the darkening wold. [Pre-Chorus 1] I thought of my young wife and journeyed on, Afraid that I might wander until dawn. Then Jacob met me in the fading day, And led me where his master’s dwelling lay. [Chorus] Hear the wheels roll through the snow, Hear the bitter night wind blow. Four grey horses draw in sight, And a coach comes through the night. [Verse 2] Old Jacob led me to his master’s door, A lonely house beside the frozen moor. His master gave me shelter from the cold, And by the fire a stranger tale he told. [Pre-Chorus 2] He spoke of truths beyond our mortal sight, Of unseen worlds that linger close at night. The learned mocked the things he claimed to know, So from their world he fled long years ago. [Chorus] Hear the wheels roll through the snow, Hear the bitter night wind blow. Four grey horses draw in sight, And a coach comes through the night. [Verse 3] At last I rose to catch the northern mail, And Jacob led me outward through the gale. He warned me of the parapet ahead, Where nine years past the mail had plunged, he said. [Pre-Chorus 3] Four died that night beneath the winter sky, And two survived till morning, then would die. Then Jacob left me where my path was shown, And through the storm I carried on alone. [Chorus] Hear the wheels roll through the snow, Hear the bitter night wind blow. Four grey horses draw in sight, And a coach comes through the night. [Verse 4] Two distant lamps came burning through the snow, I hailed the coach and watched its pace grow slow. The driver stopped; no answering word was said, I pulled the door and climbed inside instead. [Pre-Chorus 4] Three silent travellers shared the coach with me, Their forms were still as any forms could be. The leather cracked, the wood was damp with mould, The coach itself seemed ruinous and old. [Chorus] Hear the wheels roll through the snow, Hear the bitter night wind blow. Four grey horses draw in sight, And a coach comes through the night. [Verse 5] I looked upon the three with growing dread, Their rigid faces seemed already dead. Their glassy eyes returned a lifeless stare, And then I knew no living men sat there. [Pre-Chorus 5] The signpost flashed before me through the night, The broken parapet came into sight. The horses plunged; the coach began to fall, Then darkness came—and I knew naught at all. [Final Chorus] Hear the wheels roll through the snow, Down the fatal road we go. Past the signpost, through the night, Then the black gulf came in sight. [instrumental interlude] [Outro] At dawn they found me in the drift below, Alive and broken underneath the snow. Though twenty years have passed since that dark ride, I know I was the fourth passenger inside.