The Turn of the Road

I was playing with my hoop along the road

Just where the bushes are, when, suddenly,

There came a shout, — I ran away and stowed

Myself beneath a bush, and watched to see

What made the noise, and then, around the bend,

I saw a woman running. She was old

And wrinkle-faced, and had big teeth.

— The end

Of her red shawl caught on a bush and rolled

Right off her, and her hair fell down. —

Her face

Was awful white, and both her eyes looked sick,

And she was talking queer. "O God of Grace!"

Said she, "where is the child?" and flew back quick

The way she came, and screamed, and shook her hands;

. . . Maybe she was a witch from foreign lands.

The Rocky Road to Dublin/The Adventures of Seumas Beg [1915]