Charm 8

Metrical Charm 8: For a Swarm of Bees

Take some earth, throw it with your right hand under your right foot and say:

I take under foot, I have found it
Lo, earth avails against every spirit
Against malice and mindlessness,
And against the mighty tongues of man.

Throw over them some gravel where they swarm, and say -

Sit you, women of victory, sink to earth!
You shall never fly wild to the wood.
Be you so considerate of my case
As each man is of meat and homeland.