"Hallowe'en" (A Poem)

Originally published in Harper’s Weekly on October 31, 1896, Joel Benton’s poem “Hallowe’en” blends a nostalgic glimpse of Halloween with references to mystical creatures like elves and pixies. As the fanciful beings spend the evening making mischief, the narrator reflects on how magical the holiday would be if everyone maintained a childlike wonder: “Were we once more but sixteen, / Precious would be Halloween.”

Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite
All are on their rounds to-night,
In the wan moon’s silver ray
Thrives their helter-skelter play.

Fond of cellar, barn, or stack,
True unto the almanac,
They present to credulous eyes
Strange hobgoblin mysteries.

Cabbage-stomps-straws wet with dew -
Apple-skins, and chestnuts too,
And a mirror for some lass,
Show what wonders come to pass.

Doors they move, and gates they hide,
Mischiefs that on moon-beams ride
Are their deeds, and, by their spells,
Love records its oracles.

Don’t we all, of long ago,
By the ruddy fireplace glow,
In the kitchen and the hall,
Those queer, cooflike pranks recall?

Eery shadows were they then-
But to-night they come again;
Were we once more but sixteen,
Precious would be Halloween.[1]

Works Referenced

Benton, Joel. “Hallowe’en.” Harper’s Weekly 40.2080 (1896): 1079.

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[1] Benton, 1079.