Ghoul Care
By Ralph Hodgson
Sour fiend, go home and tell the Pit
For once you met your master, –
A man who carried in his soul
Three charms against disaster,
The Devil and disaster.
Away, away, and tell the tale
And start your whelps a-whining,
Say ‘In the greenwood of his soul
A lizard’s eye was shining,
A little eye kept shining.’
Away, away, and salve your sores,
And set your hags a-groaning,
Say ‘In the greenwood of his soul
A drowsy bee was droning,
A dreamy bee was droning.’
Prodigious Bat! Go start the walls
Of Hell with horror ringing.
Say ‘In the greenwood of his soul
There was a goldfinch singing,
A pretty goldfinch singing.’
And then come back, come, if you please,
A fiercer ghoul and ghaster,
With all the glooms and smuts of Hell
Behind you, I’m you master!
You know I’m still your master.
