Mythology & Folklore
A Charm-Song
From Lyrics from the Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1889)
Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray,
Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may!
Titty, Tiffin,
Keep it stiff in;
Firedrake, Puckey,
Make it lucky;
Liard, Robin,
You must bob in.
Round, around, around, about, about!
All ill come running in, all good keep out!
1 Witch. Here's the blood of a bat.
Hecate. Put in that, O put in that!
2 Witch. Here's libbard's bane.
Hecate. Put in again!
1 Witch. The juice of toad, the oil of adder;
2 Witch. Those will make the younker madder.
Hecate. Put in—there's all—and rid the stench.
Firestone. Nay, here's three ounces of the red-haired wench.
All. Round, around, around, about, about!
Cite this poem
MLA
Middleton, Thomas. “A Charm-Song.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/middleton/9/.
Chicago
Middleton, Thomas. “A Charm-Song.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/middleton/9/.
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