‘The Hag’ stands out amongst the poetry of Robert Herrick as an outlier. It is not a poem he is well known for and even appears thematically discordant with many of his more recognizable poems. Yet there are hallmarks of the poet’s style found within this haunting four-stanza poem about a witch’s flight.
There is vivid visual imagery that illustrates with painstaking detail the witch’s devious activities, as well as its religious overtones, which echo the hysteria of the witch hunts that were carried out during the poet’s life.
The Hag Robert HerrickThe Hag is astride, This night for to ride;The Devill and shee together: Through thick, and through thin, Now out, and then in,Though ne'r so foule be the weather.A Thorn or a Burr She takes for a Spurre:With a lash of a Bramble she rides now, Through Brakes and through Bryars, O're Ditches, and Mires,She followes the Spirit that guides now.No Beast, for his food, Dares now range the wood;But husht in his laire he lies lurking: While mischiefs, by these, On Land and on Seas,At noone of Night are working,The storme will arise, And trouble the skies;This night, and more for the wonder, The ghost from the Tomb Affrighted shall come,Cal'd out by the clap of the Thunder.
Summary
‘The Hag’ by Robert Herrick is a highly descriptive poem that conjures up the terrifying moment a witch takes flight.
‘The Hag’ unfolds as the construction of a fantastical night scene. “The Hag is astride, / This night for to ride; / The Devill and shee together,” the speaker declares in the opening lines. Describing the way the hag (i.e., witch) flies through the air and bad weather aided by evil forces. Unburdened by gravity, she moves freely “through Brakes and through Bryars, / O’re Ditches, and Mires,” following the devil as she goes.
In the third stanza, the speaker describes the way “no beast” dares to come out with the hag rides through the night sky. Instead, they cower away in their “laire” while she causes “mischiefs… / On Land and on Seas.” The fourth stanza describes a storm gathering to “trouble the skies” and even implies that the dead will arise as ghosts and spirits called by the “clap of the Thunder.”
Structure and Form
‘The Hag’ is composed of four stanzas with six lines each. There is a rhyme scheme of ‘AABCCB’ that repeats throughout.
Literary Devices
‘The Hag’ mainly relies on its use of imagery to create an effective poem. Examples of these include but are not limited to:
- Visual imagery: “The Hag is astride, / This night for to ride; / The Devill and shee together” (1-3); “Through Brakes and through Bryars, / O’re Ditches, and Mires, / She followes the Spirit that guides now” (10-12); “No Beast, for his food, / Dares now range the wood; / But husht in his laire he lies lurking” (13-15).
- Tactile imagery: “A Thorn or a Burr / She takes for a Spurre” (7-8).
- Kinesthetic imagery: “With a lash of a Bramble she rides now” (9).
- Auditory imagery: “Cal’d out by the clap of the Thunder” (24).
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
The Hag is astride,
This night for to ride;
The Devill and shee together:
Through thick, and through thin,
Now out, and then in,
Though ne’r so foule be the weather.
In the first stanza of ‘The Hag,’ the speaker opens with a stunning piece of visual imagery: “The Hag is astride, / This night for to ride; / The Devill and shee together” (1-3). These opening lines set the scene for a night of dark enchantment that unfolds directly from the hag’s actions and her partnership with the devil.
The speaker emphasizes their closeness and the power she derives from it. One example of that strength is their ability to defy the “foule” (6) weather that they head into.
Stanza Two
A Thorn or a Burr
She takes for a Spurre:
With a lash of a Bramble she rides now,
Through Brakes and through Bryars,
O’re Ditches, and Mires,
She followes the Spirit that guides now.
In stanza two, the speaker of ‘The Hag’ continues to narrate the actions of this woman who is being guided by an ominous “Spirit” (12). Using a mixture of tactile and kinesthetic imagery, Herrick characterizes everything about the witch as insidious or malicious. From the “Thorn or a Burr / She takes for a Spurre” (7-8) to the way she uses the “lash of a Bramble” (9) to ride through the air.
The imagery underscores the hag’s distasteful and cruel nature. Yet so does the landscape she flies above: through “Brakes and through Bryars” (10) to “Ditches, and Mires” (11). The poem creates the effect that the witch’s presence alone is enough to twist the natural world around them into something malevolent.
Stanza Three
No Beast, for his food,
Dares now range the wood;
But husht in his laire he lies lurking:
While mischiefs, by these,
On Land and on Seas,
At noone of Night are working,
The third stanza of ‘The Hag’ reveals how other creatures react to the flight of the witch. “No Beast, for his food, / Dares now range the wood” (13-14), the speaker ominously declares. Though ambiguous, the connotation of “beast” implies a formidable animal nonetheless, making the speaker’s claim that even these cower and hide from the hag all the more frightfully resonant.
In contrast, while the beast sits “husht in his laire” (15), the witch flies around outside, enjoying their freedom. A powerful image and symbol of the dominance she has over the natural world. That idea is further accentuated when the speaker describes the way the witch is not bound by either land or sea and freely bounds over both, causing “mischiefs” (16).
Stanza Four
The storme will arise,
And trouble the skies;
This night, and more for the wonder,
The ghost from the Tomb
Affrighted shall come,
Cal’d out by the clap of the Thunder.
The fourth stanza of ‘The Hag’ reaches a climax that begins with the bad weather mentioned in the first stanza reaching a crescendo. Although the speaker doesn’t directly blame the witch for the weather changes, it can be seen as a symbol of her nefarious power and influence. Eerily prophetic, the speaker states how a “storme will arise, / And trouble the skies” (19-20) as the night continues.
In the midst of this, another wonder will occur — though not one very delightful or inspiring. In a scene that appears as if pulled straight out of a nightmare, the speaker describes how a “ghost from the Tomb / Affrighted shall come” (22-23). This further emphasizes how the witch disturbs the world’s natural order.
FAQs
The poem’s theme seems to be an affirmation of the widely held superstitions and beliefs people had about witches at the time it was written. One that characterizes them as having made a deal with the devil to gain immense power over nature while also underscoring their frightening and perverse disposition.
Being a religious man, it is quite possible that Herrick himself believed this description of a witch to be quite literal. In this sense, the poem might have served as a vivid and cautionary reminder of the presence of such malevolent creatures in the world. Even as it somewhat delights in the ability to conjure up such frightening imagery.
The hag is a rather ubiquitous image in a variety of cultures. One that takes the form of an elderly woman that is often portrayed as being hideous and wielding immense unnatural power. The term in this poem is interchangeable with the label of witch.
The poem’s tone is influenced greatly by both its diction and imagery. Throughout, the speaker uses negative connotations to characterize the hag as a loathsome creature. The tone alternates between terror and dread, as well as painful discomfort in the form of the different landscapes described and the horrendous weather.
Similar Poems
- ‘The Witch’s Life’ by Anne Sexton – this poem uses the image of a witch to explore one’s own age and relationship with older women.
- ‘The Witch’ by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge – this poem unfolds from the perspective of a supposed witch.
- ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ by Dorothea Tanning – this poem uses Halloween to explore a variety of heavier topics.
