A  LITTLE  GODSPELL

There was a young man with a handful of stones
who met a young maiden with a crock full of moans:
and there he found her stripping her flesh
under her flush to find her mother.
He took a bite in for to give a bit out,
she took a boot off for to take a brat in:
the one was an adder and the other was a spider
and a little white mouse was the rider:

        and the mouse ran into the well
        and the wheel lay in the road
        and the reed was stuck in the mire
        and the mere ran cold under the wind
        and the wand sprouted leaves
        and the loaves took fire
        and fear howled over the waters
        and witched and waiting men gew chill
        and a child stood motherless and crying
        and a crow cawed loudly into the night:

and there we found her slipping her fleece,
stripping her flesh to find her lover.

His needle knew all that she couldn't tell,
her babble hid all that he couldn't see:
and there she found him, swathed in sin,
sweating with sun on the ride and calling for his life.
his mouth was ice and his feet were gleeds,
her heart pipped open and cast her needs.
O mother, my dear, I''ve cracked my bowl!
the baleful blood seeps from my soul!

        And O! the blood was on the mat
        and the meat got up and howled
        and the hole became a mouth
        and the moth became a lure
        and the leer was a row of maidens
        and the middlemen raised their hats
        and heat ran out of a bung
        and a bang tore a shirt from top to tail
        and on the shoot lay an old skillet
        and guarding the skull was a big riddle:

and there we found him, our sweet son,
sweating with sin on the rood and calling for his love.

                       (1940)