Here are a few poems about ghosts and witches:
The Hag
Robert Herrick (1648)
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’r so foule be the weather.
A Thorn or a Burr
She takes 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 mischiefs, by these,
On Land and on Seas,
At noone of Night are 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.
The Haunting
Richard Jones
In screaming woods and empty rooms
or gloomy vaults and sunken tombs
where monks and nuns in dust decay
and shadows dance at close of day.
Where the bat dips on the wing
and spectral choirs on breezes sing;
Where swords of ancient battles clash
and shimmering shades for freedom dash.
Where silver webs of spiders weave
and blighted lovers take their leave
Where curses lay the spirits low
and mortal footsteps fear to go.
Where death holds life in grim embrace
its lines etched on the sinners face
Where e’er the march of time is flaunted
voices cry, “this place is haunted.”
From Antigonish
William Hughes Mearns (1899)
Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away.
The Witches’ Rune
Doreen Valiente
Darksome night and shining moon
Hearken to the Witches’ Rune.
East and South, West and North
Hear me now, I call thee forth.
By all the powers of land and sea
Be obedient unto me.
Wand and pentacle, cup and sword
Hearken ye unto my word.
Cord and censor, totem and knife
Waken ye all into life.
By all the powers of the Witches’ blade
Come ye now as the charge is made.
Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell
Send your aid unto my spell.
Horned Hunter of the Night
Work my will by magick rite.
By all the powers of Land and Sea
As I will, so mote it be.
By all the might of moon and sun
As I say, it shall be done.
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May your nights be long and your dreams be haunted,
XOXO