.jpg)
The story comes from a German ballad written in 1773 by Gottfried August Bürger , a poem so haunting it inspired everyone from Edgar Allan Poe to Bram Stoker. It even gave Dracula one of its most famous lines: "The dead travel fast."
Here's what happens:
It's 1763. The Seven Years' War has ended. Lenora is waiting for her fiancé William to return from the Battle of Prague. The army comes back. Everyone's reunited with their loved ones.
Except William. He's not among them.
Lenora spirals into grief. She curses God. She loses hope.
Then, at midnight, there's a knock at the door.
It's him. William. On a black horse. In full armor. He tells her to come with him , they'll be married before dawn. They have to ride fast. Very fast.
She climbs on. They gallop through the night. Past forests. Over rivers. Through graveyards. The wind howls. Spirits chase them. She asks why they're going so fast.
He answers: "The dead travel fast."
As dawn breaks, they arrive at a cemetery. The horse stops. And William transforms.
The armor crumbles. The flesh falls away. He's not her lover.
He's Death itself.
SOURCE: Stories Behind Art
