 | The Poetical Works of Mr. William Pattison |  |
178
An Natura intendat Monstrum? Neg.
Press'd with a Load of Poverty, and Years,
How strange a Prodigy the Wretch appears;
Whose trembling Limbs, and furrow'd Brows reveal,
The noxious Witch, Foe to the publick Weal;
Who gathers Herbs by Moon-Light, and alarms
The neighb'ring Villages with magick Charms:
To her imagin'd Spells dire Woes succeed,
The gen'rous Courser loaths the flow'ry Mead;
Spurning the Glebe around the Field he flies,
Forsakes his dappled Mares, repines, and dies.
How strange a Prodigy the Wretch appears;
Whose trembling Limbs, and furrow'd Brows reveal,
The noxious Witch, Foe to the publick Weal;
Who gathers Herbs by Moon-Light, and alarms
The neighb'ring Villages with magick Charms:
To her imagin'd Spells dire Woes succeed,
The gen'rous Courser loaths the flow'ry Mead;
Spurning the Glebe around the Field he flies,
Forsakes his dappled Mares, repines, and dies.
From Infants tender Throats (what Nurses say
There Numbers shall to wond'ring Ears convey)
Sharp Pins, and Needles, tear their bloody Way.
From Heifers stubborn Teats the trickling Store
Of milky Nectar now descends no more;
Dame Baucis trudges to the Fields in vain,
Few Drops, alas! her stinted Pails contain.
There Numbers shall to wond'ring Ears convey)
Sharp Pins, and Needles, tear their bloody Way.
179
Of milky Nectar now descends no more;
Dame Baucis trudges to the Fields in vain,
Few Drops, alas! her stinted Pails contain.
Oft the malicious Hag is seen to flie,
Thro' the large Convex of the nether Sky;
Upborn by magick Staff she rides secure,
(Superiour to the giddy Whirlwinds Power.)
Advent'rous, o'er the pathless Welkin strays,
Mocks the rude Winds, and in the Tempest plays.
Now dwindled to an Hare, she scours in View,
While the full Cry her circling Mare pursue;
Now, tir'd, the Beagle's eager Speed eludes,
In puzling Thickets lost, or trackless Woods:
The baffled Hunters for the Witch enquire,
Now safely seated by the Kitchin Fire;
Hid in Grimalkin's Form, with sullen Pride,
Demure she sits, and licks her Tabby side.
Thro' the large Convex of the nether Sky;
Upborn by magick Staff she rides secure,
(Superiour to the giddy Whirlwinds Power.)
Advent'rous, o'er the pathless Welkin strays,
Mocks the rude Winds, and in the Tempest plays.
Now dwindled to an Hare, she scours in View,
While the full Cry her circling Mare pursue;
Now, tir'd, the Beagle's eager Speed eludes,
In puzling Thickets lost, or trackless Woods:
The baffled Hunters for the Witch enquire,
Now safely seated by the Kitchin Fire;
Hid in Grimalkin's Form, with sullen Pride,
Demure she sits, and licks her Tabby side.
180
Whence knows she thus to vary her Disguise,
And in a borrow'd Shape deceive our Eyes?
She, whom the restless Course of Time made old,
(Time that distorts the fairest human Mould)
Tho' a poor simple Soul as ever liv'd,
Is by the Vulgar as a Witch receiv'd.
Thus Monsters in our Mind alone exist,
We give 'em Birth, and Shape them as we list.
And in a borrow'd Shape deceive our Eyes?
She, whom the restless Course of Time made old,
(Time that distorts the fairest human Mould)
Tho' a poor simple Soul as ever liv'd,
Is by the Vulgar as a Witch receiv'd.
Thus Monsters in our Mind alone exist,
We give 'em Birth, and Shape them as we list.
| The Poetical Works of Mr. William Pattison | |