Grim king of the ghosts, make haste,
And bring hither all your train;
See how the pale moon does waste,
And just now is in the wane.
Come, you night-hags, with all your charms,
And revelling witches away,
And hug me close in your arms;
To you my respects I'll pay.

I'll court you and think you fair,
Since love does distract my brain;
I'll go, I'll wed the night-mare,
And kiss her, and kiss her again;
But if she prove peevish and proud,
Then, a pise on her love, let her go!
I'll seek me a winding shroud,
And down to the shades below.

A lunacy sad I endure,
Since reason departs away;
I call to those hags for a cure,
As knowing not what I say.
The beauty, whom I do adore,
Now slights me with scorn and disdain;
I never shall see her more:
Ah! how shall I bear my pain?

I ramble and range about
To find out my charming saint;
While she at my grief does flout,
And smiles at my loud complaint.
Distraction I see is my doom,
Of this I am now too sure;
A rival is got in my room
While torments I do endure.

Strange fancies do fill my head;
While wandering in despair
I am to the desarts lead,
Expecting to find her there.
Methinks in a spangled cloud
I see her enthroned on high;
Then to her I crie aloud,
And labour to reach the sky.

When thus I have raved awhile
And wearyed myself in vain,
I lye on the barren soil
And bitterly do complain.
Till slumber hath quieted me
In sorrow I sigh and weep;
The clouds are my canopy
To cover me while I sleep.

I dream that my charming fair
Is then in my rival's bed,
Whose tresses of golden hair
Then this doth my passion inflame:
I start, and no longer can lie:
Ah! Sylvia, art thou not to blame
To ruin a lover? I cry.

Grim king of the ghosts, be true,
And hurry me hence away;
My languishing life to you
A tribute I freely pay.
To the Elysian shades I post
In hopes to be freed form care,
Where many a bleeding ghost
Is hovering in the air.