I know one poem by heart, beginning to end. And it happens to be a Halloween poem. I must have learned it back in some elementary grade. I had no idea it was written by Robert Herrick, a 17th-century English poet. I just knew it was a little bt spooky and perfect for this time of year.
The Hag
Robert Herrick (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.
Well…it is pretty perfect for today and tonight!
It’s so fun that you know that poem! Happy Halloween!
I hadn’t heard that one. I wish I could remember poems or quotes. I always butcher them.
I love that this is the one poem you know by heart, LOL!