The Ember That Remained

A miser walked the roads of Erin's night,

A drunken trickster, cunning, cold, and sly;

He cheated men and laughed as years went by,

Yet once he faced the Devil in his sight.

He bought himself from Hell through crafty might,

Then trapped his foe and made the Devil swear

That Jack's own soul would never be his share;

Thus twice he turned damnation from his flight.

But death could not be cheated by his art.

He reached Heaven's gate and found it barred;

He sought Hell's door, but there the Devil kept

The promise Jack had forced from him before.

So through the darkness Jack was left to roam,

With one coal's glow inside a hollowed root.