Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Hag

THe Hag is astride,
              This night for to ride;
    The Devill and shee together:
              Through thick, and through thin,
              Now out, and then in,
    Though ne'r so foule be the weather.

          A Thorn or a Burr
              She takes for a Spurre:
    With a lash of a Bramble she rides now,
              Through Brakes and through Bryars,
              O're Ditches, and Mires,
    She followes the Spirit that guides now.
 
           No Beast, for his food,
              Dares now range the wood;
    But husht in his laire he lies lurking:
              While mischeifs, by these,
              On Land and on Seas,
    At noone of Night are working,
 
     The storme will arise,
              And trouble the skies;
    This night, and more for the wonder,
              The ghost from the Tomb
              Affrighted shall come,
    Cal'd out by the clap of the Thunder.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674).

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