The hag | The Hag is astride

The Hag is astride

Language: English

Our translations: 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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Text 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 XVII^th 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):

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