The Magic Wood - Joan Baez

The wood is full of shining eyes

The wood is full of creeping feet

The wood is full of tiny cries

You must not go to the wood at night!

I met a man with eyes of glass

And a finger as curled as the wriggling worm

And hair all red with rotting leaves

And a stick that hissed like a summer snake

The wood is full of shining eyes

The wood is full of creeping feet

The wood is full of tiny cries

You must not go to the wood at night!

He sang me a song in backwards words

And drew me a dragon in the air

I saw his teeth through the back of his head

And a rat’s eyes winking from his hair

The wood is full of shining eyes

The wood is full of creeping feet

The wood is full of tiny cries

You must not go to the wood at night!

He made me a penny out of a stone

And showed me the way to catch a lark

With a straw in a knot and a whispered word

Penny worth of ginger wrapped up in a leaf

The wood is full of shining eyes

The wood is full of creeping feet

The wood is full of tiny cries

You must not go to the wood at night!

He asked me my name and where I lived

I told him a name from my book of tales

He asked me to come with him into the wood

And dance with the kings from under the hills

The wood is full of shining eyes

The wood is full of creeping feet

The wood is full of tiny cries

You must not go to the wood at night!

But I saw that his eyes were turning to fire

And I watched the nails grow in his wriggling hand

And I said my prayers all out in a rush

And found myself safe on my father’s land

The wood is full of shining eyes

The wood is full of creeping feet

The wood is full of tiny cries

You must not go to the wood at night!