1845 James Maxwell's "The Vampire" Modernized Language

A knight rides through the woods,
And he is a strong and courageous knight.
He has been sent on an errand,
So he rides with haste.
He rides past the oak tree and the birch tree,
He passes many trees,
It was pleasant to see the sight of slim* trees,
For under it he saw
The most beautiful lady he ever did see,
For she was shining and fair.
She sat beneath the branches
Combing her golden hair.
And then the knight said, “Oh bright lady,
What chance has brought you here?
If you but say the word, you shall go
Back to your dear kindred.”
The fair lady answered,
“I have no friends or kin,
I live in a little loat
Amid the load waves din.”
Then the brave knight said,
“I’ll follow you to wherever you go,
For even if you are on a little boat,
The world to the boat seems small.”
Together they traveled through the woods
Until they arrived at its end.
And when they got to the end of the woods
They saw the salt sea’s foam.
Then they saw the small boat
That danced on the tops of the waves,
And the fair lady got into it first
Then the brave knight followed her onto it.
They rowed with all their might;
Then the brave knight turned in the boat
And looked at the shining lady:
He looked at her beautiful cheek,
And he looked at her bright eyes,
But suddenly her rosy cheek went ghastly pale,
As though she were dead.
Then the false, false knight grew pale with fright,
And his hair stood on end,
For past days came to his mind,
And he remembered and thought about his former love.
Then the lady spoke, “You false knight,
You have done much ill to me,
You forsook me long ago
But I am still constant (faithful) to you;
For although I lie in the cold woods
I cannot be at rest
Until I suck the good life-blood
Of the man that caused my death.”
He saw her lips were red with blood,
And he saw her lifeless eyes,
And loudly he cried, “Get from my side,
You unclean vampire corpse!”
But no, he is in the magic boat,
And on the wide, wide sea;
And the vampire sucks his good life’s blood,
She sucks him until he dies.
So now beware, whoever you are,
That walks in this lone wood:
Beware of that deceitful spirit,
That ghost that sucks the blood.

*Slim: my best guess is a thin tree?