by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
The Hag is astride
Language: English
Available translation(s): DUT
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'er so foule be the weather. A Thorn or a Burr She tkes 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 mischeifs, by these, On Land and on Seas, At noone of Night are a 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.
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Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674) [author's text checked 1 time 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 Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "The Hag", 1902, first performed 1902 [ baritone and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernst Alexander 'Sas' Bunge (1924 - 1980), "The hag is astride", published 1950, rev. 1968, from Four XVIIth century poems, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Liptrot Hatton (1809 - 1886), "The hag" [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "The hag" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "The ride of the witch (The hag)" [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 26
Word count: 131