Index

Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com

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THE WITCH'S BALLAD -Doreen Valente?

Oh, I have been beyond the town,

Where nightshade black and mandrake grow,

And I have heard and I have seen

What righteous folk would fear to know!

For I have heard, at still midnight,

Upon the hilltop far, forlorn,

With note that echoed through the dark,

The winding of the heathen horn.

And I have seen the fire aglow,

And glinting from the magic sword,

And with the inner eye beheld

The Horned One, the Sabbat's lord.

We drank the wine, and broke the bread,

And ate it in the Lady's name.

We linked our hands to make the ring,

And laughed and leaped the Sabbat game.

Oh, little do the townsfolk reck,

When dull they lie within their bed!

Beyond the streets, beneath the stars,

A merry round the witches tread!

And round and round the circle spun,

Until the gates swung wide ajar,

That bar the boundaries of earth

From faery realms that shine afar.

Oh, I have been and I have seen

In magic worlds of Otherwhere.

For all this world may praise or blame,

For ban or blessing nought I care.

For I have been beyond the town,

Where meadowsweet and roses grow,

And there such music did I hear

As worldly-rightous never know.

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