TWENTY-FOUR

A Riddle

I am jet-black, as you may see,

The son of pitch, and gloomy night;

Yet all that know me will agree,

I’m dead except I live in light.

My blood this day is very sweet,

Tomorrow of a bitter juice,

Like milk ’tis cried about the street,

And so applied to different use.

Most wondrous is my magic power;

For with one colour I can paint;

I’ll make the devil a saint this hour,

Next make a devil of a saint.