I Saw Three Witches

I saw three witches      That bowed down like barley,      And straddled their brooms 'neath a louring sky,             And, mounting a storm-cloud,             Aloft on its margin,      Stood black in the silver as up they did fly.             I saw three witches             That mocked the poor sparrows      They carried in cages of wicker along,             Till a hawk from his eyrie             Swooped down like an arrow,      Smote on the cages, and ended their song.             I saw three witches             That sailed in a shallop,      All turning their heads with a snickering smile,             Till a bank of green osiers             Concealed their grim faces,      Though I heard them lamenting for many a mile.             I saw three witches             Asleep in a valley,      Their heads in a row, like stones in a flood,             Till the moon, creeping upward,             Looked white through the valley,      And turned them to bushes in bright scarlet bud.