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.