A tale of wonder, vide Iris; Have at thee devil to thy cost, With the dread cross I wield! By Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, By Patrick, and the heavenly host, I charge thee, devil, yield!”. He stretcht his hoof into the grave, And kick’d with hellish force. The coffin melts in flame, and smoke; The third, the only chain is broke; Uprose the shuddering corse. Then might be seen a woman’s shape, Her skin of ashy hue, With writhing limbs, and bristling hair, And eyes of chalk in haggard stare, And lips and nipples blue. Wringing her hands in wild affright She clung about the priest. E.B. invenit. fecit Norwich 1804
The Iris, mentioned in the lettering, was a weekly Norwich newspaper, edited by William Taylor, which, on 29 October 1803, published Taylor's poem A tale of wonder, which had been written in 1791, and which was the subject of the present painting. "[Frank] Sayers, [William] Taylor and [Robert] Southey were all interested in incorporating "German sublimity" into English ballads and seem to have touched on the matter during Southey's Norwich visit [in May 1798]. … the three poets, all interested in supernatural ballads on the German (Bürger) model, all wrote ballads on The Old Woman of Berkeley story of the elaborate but unsuccessful attempt by an old witch to prevent the Devil carrying away her body (on horseback) after her death." (Chandler, op. cit.)
Bears number: 905
