from The Witches' Charms - Johnson

from THE WITCHES' CHARMS

By Ben Johnson (1572-1637)

1 Charm.
Dame, dame! the watch is set:
Quickly come, we are all met.
From the lakes and from the fens,
From the rocks and from the dens,
From the woods and from the caves,
From the churchyards, from the graves,
From the dungeon, from the tree
That they die on, here are we!

Comes she not yet?

Strike another heat!

2 charm.
The weather is fair, the wind is good:
Up, dame, o' your horse of wood!
Or else tuck up your gray frock,
And saddle your goat or your green cock,
And make this bridle a bottom of thrid (ball of thread)
To roll up how many miles you have rid.
Quickly come away,
For we all stay.

Nor yet? nay then

We'll try her again.

3 charm.
The owl is abroad, the bat and the toad,
And so is the cat-a-mountain (wild cat);
The ant and the mole sit both in a hole,
And frog peeps out of the fountain.
The dogs they do bay, and the timbrels play,
the spindle is now a-turning;
The moon is red, and the stars are fled,
but all the sky is a-burning.