Jack o' Lantern

After the curfew has sounded and night

Darkens the work-a-day wold,

Nimbly I kindle my glimmering light,

Frolicsome revel to hold.

With many a gambol

I wantonly ramble,

And sport in a mischievous vein;

As creeping and sliding,

And peeping and hiding,

I puzzle the boors on the plain. Ha! ha!

Hither and thither I glide by the sedge,

Under the willows and over the hedge,

Out of the meadows and into the fen,

Round to the maze of my watery den.

My lantern is glowing,

The path it is shewing;

Follow me, find me, unriddle me then!

Who am I? what am I? whence do I come?

Why was I given my name?

When was I cradled, and where is my home?

Am I a wandering flame?

Or mortal or fairy,

Enticing and wary,

I laughingly beckon and fly;

But they that pursue me

Learn only to rue me,

So ghostly a leader am I! Ha! ha!

Hither and thither I glide by the sedge,

Under the willows and over the hedge,

Out of the meadows and into the fen,

Round to the maze of my watery den.

My lantern is glowing,

The path it is shewing;

Follow me, find me, unriddle me then!