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The
Witch of Endor
I had the gift, and arrived at the technique
That called up spirits from the vasty deep
To traffic with our tumid flesh, to speak
Of the unknown regions where the buried
keep
Their counsel, but for such talents I was
banned
By Saul himself from sortilege and spell
Who banished thaumaturges from the land
Where in their ignorance the living dwell.
But then he needed me; he was sore afraid,
And begged for forbidden commerce with the
dead.
Samuel he sought, and I raised up that shade,
Laggard, resentful, with shawl-enfolded
head,
Who spoke a terrible other-wordly curse
In a hollow, deep, engastrimthic voice.
- Anthony Hecht
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