Classic Poem

We went one day to a farmer's house:
His wife was so weak she could scarce arouse;
But when she saw we were Rommany,
She spoke to us very civilly,
And said, with many a gasp and twitch:
" I'm dying — and all of a wicked witch.

" Look there! look there! It is coming now;
The evil thing is dancing, I vow!
My God! Oh, help me! " — and peeping in
At the open door, with a wicked grin,
Came a great grey toad, with a hop and a hitch;
" See there! " cried the woman, " see — there's my witch!

" Every day and hour it is coming here —
The devilish creature is always near;
If I throw it away, the first thing I see,
It is jumping again and staring at me,
All night I hear it hiss by the ditch,
And all night long I dream of the witch. "

Then we spoke together in Rommany,
And told her at last how the thing must be:
" If you have shears, just bring them here,
And with them a cup of salt, my dear,
And as sure as we're poor, and you are rich,
The Gipsies will soon take care of the witch! "

So we tied the shears like a cross, you see,
And held the toad — and it couldn't get free —
The charm was so strong — but it gave a cry —
For it knew that its hour had come to die;
In the fire with the shears we gave it a pitch,
And she threw the salt on the burning witch.

Then the lady gave us all a treat,
Ale and bacon — plenty to eat,
And a ten-shilling piece as we went away —
Since people who work must get their pay;
And it's good for all, be they poor or rich,
If Gipsies come when they're plagued with a witch.