I SAW THREE WITCHES

I saw three witches

That bowed down like barley,

And took to their brooms 'neath a louring sky,

And, mounting a storm-cloud,

Aloft on its margin,

Stood black in the silver as up they did fly.

I saw three witches

That mocked the poor sparrows

They carried in cages of wicker along,

Till a hawk from his eyrie

Swooped down like an arrow,

And smote on the cages, and ended their song.

I saw three witches

That sailed in a shallop,

All turning their heads with a truculent smile,

Till a bank of green osiers

Concealed their grim faces,

Though I heard them lamenting for many a mile.

I saw three witches

Asleep in a valley,

Their heads in a row, like stones in a flood,

Till the moon, creeping upward,

Looked white through the valley,

And turned them to bushes in bright scarlet bud.

THE SILVER PENNY

'Sailorman, I'll give to you'

My bright silver penny,'

If out to sea you'll sail me'

And my dear sister Jenny.'

'Get in, young sir, I'll sail ye'

And your dear sister Jenny,'

But pay she shall her golden locks'

Instead of your penny.'

They sail away, they sail away,'

O fierce the winds blew!'

The foam flew in clouds,'

And dark the night grew!

And all the wild sea-water'

Climbed steep into the boat;'

Back to the shore again'

Sail they will not.

Drowned is the sailorman,'

Drowned is sweet Jenny,'

And drowned in the deep sea'

A bright silver penny.

THE NIGHT-SWANS

'Tis silence on the enchanted lake,

And silence in the air serene,

Save for the beating of her heart,

The lovely-eyed Evangeline.

She sings across the waters clear

And dark with trees and stars between,

The notes her fairy godmother

Taught her, the child Evangeline.

As might the unrippled pool reply,

Faltering an answer far and sweet,

Three swans as white as mountain snow

Swim mantling to her feet.

And still upon the lake they stay,

Their eyes black stars in all their snow,

And softly, in the glassy pool,

Their feet beat darkly to and fro.

She rides upon her little boat,

Her swans swim through the starry sheen,

Rowing her into Fairyland—

The lovely-eyed Evangeline.

'Tis silence on the enchanted