Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Gipsy Song

IN the drizzling mist, with the snow high-pil'd, In the Winter night, in the forest wild, I heard the wolves with their ravenous howl, I heard the screaming note of the owl: Wille wau wau wau! Wille wo wo wo! Wito hu! I shot, one day, a cat in a ditch— The dear black cat of Anna the witch; Upon me, at night, seven were-wolves came down, Seven women they were, from out of the town. Wille wau wau wau! Wille wo wo wo! Wito hu! I knew them all; ay, I knew them straight; First, Anna, then Ursula, Eve, and Kate, And Barbara, Lizzy, and Bet as well; And forming a ring, they began to yell: Wille wau wau wau! Wille wo wo wo! Wito hu! Then call'd I their names with angry threat: "What wouldst thou, Anna? What wouldst thou, Bet? " At hearing my voice, themselves they shook, And howling and yelling, to flight they took. Wille wau wau wau! Wille wo wo wo! Wito hu!