Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BOOTED HENS by JOSEPH FRANCIS CARLIN MACDONNELL

First Line: IN SECRET PLACES STRANGE AND WILD
Last Line: THAT SCRATCHES ON THE GRAVES OF MEN.
Subject(s): HENS;
In secret places strange and wild
E'en to the wonder of a child,
The Wee Folk cobble the little boots,
For birds that scratch the lusmore's roots

And every night the Leprahaun
Must finish ere the Streak of Dawn
A pair of boots for every hen
That scratches on the graves of men.

Now Katty Shields in Kilnagrude,
One morning wanting to feed her brood,
And finding all the hens arrayed
In boots, she cursed the cobbler's trade.

And since that morning long ago,
She is always out at heel and toe,
In a pair of brogues, the like of which
Might well be found behind a ditch.

For she had cursed the Leprahaun,
Who finishes before the dawn
A pair of boots for every hen
That scratches on the graves of men.



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