The Hag
(from Hesperides: 1648)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 mischiefs, 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)
English lyric poet and cleric
Great poem for Halloween! To bring out our inner hag. I recently read Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood's retelling of The Tempest. It was excellent!!
ReplyDeleteBy Margaret Atwood I only know Cat's Eye so far. An excellent novel too. I really wonder what this author made of such a great story as Shakespeare's The Tempest. At any rate, Hag-Seed sounds like a book that I should put on my TBR list.
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