Midnight sounded in the forest
The striking of the clock bell;
And the old witch, queen of the festival,
Reposed on the wooden bunk.
The man-beast gathered the kindling
And the bonfire from the earth arose,
Twisting around the lengthy roasting spits,
For a supper of grand merriment.
With him a red devil
That came from the hell of misers,
Hung from a tree branch by the tail
Making popcorn in the embers.
——
Bernardo Joaquim da Silva Guimarães (1825–1884) was a poet and novelist, and was granted membership in the Brazilian Academy of Letters.