My daughter GILLIAN commandeth:
GILL: Go on, father, do; why will you keep stopping?
I think the old Witch is just perfectly topping.
And what frightful words she uses for curses!
MYSELF: Very frightful, indeed, though your slang still much worse is,
With your "topping," "top-holing," your "swishing" and "clipping,"
GILL: Well, I merely intended to say it was ripping;
But, if you object to my praises--
MYSELF: I only object to your phrases,
For there's no author but will own
He "liveth not by bread alone."
As for myself, if what I write
Doth please--then praise with all your might.
GILL: Well, then, the Witch is splendid, though
I'm very curious to know
Just how her face all fiery grew,
And what the stuff was that she threw--
The stuff that made the soldiers sneeze
And brought them choking to their knees
It sounds as though it might be snuff.
MYSELF: My dear, they'd not found out such stuff.
But grisly witches long ago
Did many strange devices know.
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