Winkum, twankum, twirlum and twitch -- My great grandam -- She was a Witch; Mouse in wainscot, Saint in niche -- My great grandam -- She was a Witch ; Deadly nightshade flowers in a ditch -- My great grandam -- She was a Witch; Long though the shroud, it grows stitch by stitch -- My great grandam -- She was a Witch ; Wean your weakling before you breech -- My great grandam -- She was a Witch ; The fattest pig 's but a double flitch -- My great grandam -- She was a Witch ; Nightjars rattle, owls scritch -- My great grandam -- She was a Witch. Pretty and small, A mere nothing at all, Pinned up sharp in the ghost of a shawl, She 'd straddle her down to the kirkyard wall, And mutter and whisper and call, And call. . .'; Red blood out and black blood in, My Nannie says I 'm a child of sin. How did I choose me my witchcraft kin? Know I as soon as dark's dreams begin Snared is my heart in a nightmare's gin ; Never from terror I out may win ; So dawn and dusk I pine, peak, thin, Scarcely beknowing t' other from which My great grandam -- She was a Witch.
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Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The little creature", appears in Down-adown-derry: a book of fairy poems, first published 1922 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The little creature", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 29
Word count: 203