The Witch in the Wintry Wood
circa 1949
By Aileen Fisher (1906-2002)
who thought that witches were after him
when the night was dark and the moon was dim.
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
This is the tale of how Tim one night
didn't start home until candlelight
when the sky was black and the snow was white.
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
He walked through the woods like a frightened goat,
his muffler twisted around his throat,
expecting to jump at a witch's note:
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
Out of the night came a sheep dog's yowl,
which Tim was sure was a Witch's howl,
a terrible witch on a wintry prowl.
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
Tim the timid, began to race,
certain he sighted a witch's face
back of each shadowy hiding place.
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
He ran through the woods on his lonely trek
till horrors! a hand went round his neck,
holding his headlong flight in check.
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
Around his throat went a witch's hand
that jerked poor Tim to a sudden stand.
His heart was water, his legs were sand!
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
Nobody knows how long he stood
with that hand on his throat in the silent wood
until he could find some hardihood...
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
Then he looked around like a shaky calf,
thinking of words for his epitaph,
and "Oh, ho, ho!" he began to laugh...
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
For what he saw was a funny sight- -
it wasn't a Witch at his throat by night,
but a pine branch pulling his muffler tight!
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
The more Tim chuckled, the more he thought
how most of his fears like mufflers caught
and stretched much tighter than mufflers ought.
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
And the end of this story of timid Tim
is nevermore, when the night was dim;
did he fear that witches were after him!
Woo-HOO, woo-HOO, woo-HOO.
© Aileen Fisher
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