Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home

Home, home, all souls home
Dead to the graveyard, living to the lamplight
Old to the fireside, girls from the twilight
Babe to the breast, and heart to its haven
Lost ones home
—Kathleen Raine, Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home

Twilight casts its spell
The forest sighs and trembles
Children, shadows long
Hurry down the lanes
Swinging through the gates

Home, young ones home!
Home, strayed ones home!

Sailors ride dark swells
Drunkards drink their fill
Sad girls bathe in lamplight
Glassy-eyed and pale
No one to regale

Home, all souls home!
Home, lost ones home!

Feather and fur reclaim the night
Creep and prowl
Scatter in haste at dawn’s first light
Heed the call

Home, night owls home!
Home, small beasts home!
Home, strayed ones home!
Home, young ones home!
All souls home!