by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637)
The owl is abroad, the bat and the toad
Language: English
The owl is abroad, the bat and the toad, And so is the cat-a-mountain; The ant and the mole sit both in a hole, And frog peeps out o' the fountain. The dogs they do bay, and the timbrels play, The spindle is now a-turning; The moon it is red, and the stars are fled, But all the sky is a-burning: The ditch is made, and our nails the spade: With pictures full, of wax and of wool, Their livers I stick with needles quick; There lacks but the blood to make up the flood. Quickly, dame, then bring your part in! Spur, spur, upon little Martin! Merrily, merrily, make him sail, A worm in his mouth and a thorn in's tail, Fire above, and fire below, With a whip i' your hand to make him go!
H. Purcell sets lines 1-4
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Authorship:
- by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637), "The Witches' Charms" [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):
- misattributed to Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695) and by John Christopher Smith (1712 - 1795), "The Owl Is Abroad", lines 1-4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Witches' Charms", published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , T. P. (Peter) Perrin
This text was added to the website: 2004-12-30
Line count: 18
Word count: 137