Ernie Sands wrote:
As it was written in the 1880's, the language could be called archaic, plus he was Scottish and that might have something to do with it.
That poem wasn't as bad as The Bottle Imp (I must have been around 9 when I read DrJ & MrH)
Sheridan le Fanu (d. 1873) is another author I won't read for that reason (other than military history, most of my pleasure reading is short horror fiction). Poe I will make an exception for, but even he wrote a lot of dreck.
If I may make some recommendations, any of the stories by M.R. James (who actually spent his career as a scholar and university administrator and only reluctantly became resigned to the fact that his true claim to fame was to be his fiction), or the novel "The Undying Monster" by Jesse Douglas Kerruish (for the best scarez, DO NOT google it, use a dedicated book search site and don't read any synopses -- JMO )
M.R. James e-texts are easily found:
https://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&sclient=psy-ab&q=m.r.+james+etext&oq=m.r.+james+etext&gs_l=hp.3...304522.309262.1.309789.16.12.0.4.4.0.464.1529.8j2j1j0j1.12.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.9XTtqFVaZR4&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=9e9e004e9c336169&bpcl=37189454&biw=1280&bih=875The Undying Monster is also in the public domain (hopefully...)
http://www.conmotsach.com/books/the_undying_monster.pdfThis is a good book to read on cold, dry, starry wintry nights:
"The Hidden Room - To-Night! What business could anyone have within the Hidden Room at Night? On a
Monster night, too, cold and windswept!"