A FEARED AND HATED LORD AND LADY In a remote village in pre-revolutionary France, the peasant children are wasting away and dying, and no one knows why. Many fear the reclusive and disliked Sieur and Dame De Blois, long rumored to be sorcerers and shapeshifters, may be responsible. When finally a heartbroken mother seizes an axe to fight back, the increasing conflict between peasant and aristocrat comes to its ultimate and deadly conclusion. This is H.P. Lovecraft's epic poem, a short story told in verse displaying his signature blend of expressive language and vivid, gothic imagery.