by Austin Dobson.
Originally published in The Witching Time: Tales for the Year's End edited by Henry Norman. (D. Appleton & Co.; 1887).
In witching time when, sparkling higher,
The last log crumbles in the fire,
And through the midnight's creeping cold,
The shadows lengthen, fold by fold,
And in the settle nods the sire,
And the dame droops, and maids draw higher,
Each to the man of her desire,
(So do the bashful seek the bold
In witching time!)
E'en as this hour, when revels tire,
And the spent mirth and mood require
Something to stir the sense, or hold
The soul in awe, these tales were told—
Told, while the flickering flames expire,
In witching time!