“Witch and ghost make merry
On this last of dear October’s days.”
—Anonymous
Greenwich Village gets decked-out for All Hallows Eve. Our Greenwich Village Walking Tour will show you the seasonal decorations as we wind our way through the narrow streets of New York’s most storied neighborhood. Take the Tour; Know More!
“From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!”
—A Scottish Saying
“ ’Tis the night — the night
Of the grave’s delight,
And the warlocks are at their play;
Ye think that without
The wild winds shout,
But no, it is they — it is they.”
—A. Cleveland Coxe (1819–1892, Episcopal bishop of Western New York State)
“May jack-o-lanterns burning bright
Of soft and golden hue
Pierce through the future’s veil and show
What fate now holds for you.”
—Anonymous
“Ghosts, like ladies, never speak till spoke to.”
—Richard Harris Barham (1788—1845, English cleric)
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”
—the Three Witches from “Macbeth”
By William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
On Hallowe’en the thing you must do
Is pretend that nothing can frighten you
And if somethin’ scares you and you want to run
Just let on like it’s Hallowe’en fun.
—Anonymous
“What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path, amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night! With what wistful look did he eye every trembling ray of light streaming across the waste fields from some distant window! How often was he appalled by some shrub covered with snow, which, like a sheeted specter, beset his very path! How often did he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of his own steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet; and dread to look over his shoulder, lest he should behold some uncouth being tramping close behind him! and how often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling among the trees, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian on one of his nightly scouring!”
—from “The Legend of Sleep Hollow”
By Washington Irving (1783—1859)
“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s gotta pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.” — Linus, from “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”
“Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
—from “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“Men say that in this midnight hour,
The disembodied have power
To wander as it liketh them,
By wizard oak and fairy stream.”
William Motherwell (1797–1835, Scottish poet)
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“ ’Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.”
—from “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare
“There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.”
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)
Read our past articles with a Halloween or autumnal theme.
A Pumpkin Flotilla and
Autumn’s First Day
ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT, EXCEPT CREDITED QUOTES, © THE AUTHOR 2016