Queen Mab

229

FAIRY SONG

SHED no tear! O, shed no tear!

The flower will bloom another year.
Weep no more! O, weep no more!

Young buds sleep in the root's white core.
Dry your eyes! O, dry your eyes!
For I was taught in Paradise

To ease my breast of melodies,—

Overhead! look overhead!

Shed no tear.

'Mong the blossoms white and red,-
Look up, look up! I flutter now
On this flush pomegranate bough.
See me! 'tis this silvery bill
Ever cures the good man's ill,—
Shed no tear! O, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Adieu, adieu-I fly-adieu!

I vanish in the heaven's blue,

Adieu, adieu!

John Keats [1795-1821]

QUEEN MAB

A LITTLE fairy comes at night,

Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,

With silver spots upon her wings,

And from the moon she flutters down.

She has a little silver wand,

And when a good child goes to bed She waves her hand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head.

And then it dreams of pleasant things,
Of fountains filled with fairy fish,

And trees that bear delicious fruit,

And bow their branches at a wish:

Of arbors filled with dainty scents

From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun,

And glow-worms shining in the shade:

And talking birds with gifted tongues,
For singing songs and telling tales,
And pretty dwarfs to show the way
Through fairy hills and fairy dales.

But when a bad child goes to bed,

From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things!

Then lions come with glaring eyes,
And tigers growl, a dreadful noise,
And ogres draw their cruel knives,

To shed the blood of girls and boys.

Then stormy waves rush on to drown,

Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air,

And serpents crawl along the ground.

Then wicked children wake and weep,
And wish the long black gloom away;
But good ones love the dark, and find
The night as pleasant as the day.

Thomas Hood (1799-1845]

THE FAIRIES OF THE CALDON-LOW

A MIDSUMMER LEGEND

"AND where have you been, my Mary,

And where have you been from me?" "I've been to the top of the Caldon-Low, The midsummer night to see!"

The Fairies of the Caldon-Low 231

"And what did you see, my Mary,

All up on the Caldon-Low?"

"I saw the glad sunshine come down,

And I saw the merry winds blow."

"And what did you hear, my Mary, All up on the Caldon-Hill?"

"I heard the drops of the water made, And the ears of the green corn fill."

"Oh, tell me all, my Mary

All-all that ever you know;
For you must have seen the fairies
Last night on the Caldon-Low!"

"Then take me on your knee, mother,
And listen, mother of mine:
A hundred fairies danced last night,
And the harpers they were nine.

"And their harp-strings rang so merrily
To their dancing feet so small;
But, oh! the words of their talking
Were merrier far than all!"

"And what were the words, my Mary, That you did hear them say?"

"I'll tell you all, my mother,

But let me have my way.

"Some of them played with the water, And rolled it down the hill;

'And this,' they said, 'shall speedily turn The poor old miller's mill.

"For there has been no water

Ever since the first of May;

And a busy man will the miller be

At the dawning of the day!

" "Oh! the miller, how he will laugh,
When he sees the mill-dam rise!
The jolly old miller, how he will laugh,
Till the tears fill both his eyes!'

"And some they seized the little winds,
That sounded over the hill,

And each put a horn into his mouth,
And blew both loud and shrill:

''And there,' said they, 'the merry winds go

Away from every horn;

And they shall clear the mildew dank

From the blind old widow's corn:

“'Oh, the poor blind widow—

Though she has been blind so long,

She'll be merry enough when the mildew's gone, And the corn stands tall and strong!'

"And some they brought the brown linseed And flung it down the Low:

'And this,' said they, by the sunrise In the weaver's croft shall grow!

"Oh, the poor lame weaver!

How will he laugh outright

When he sees his dwindling flax-field
All full of flowers by night!'

"And then outspoke a brownie,

With a long beard on his chin: 'I have spun up all the tow,' said he, 'And I want some more to spin.

""I've spun a piece of hempen cloth And I want to spin another

A little sheet for Mary's bed,

And an apron for her mother!'

The Fairies

"With that I could not help but laugh,
And I laughed out loud and free;
And then on the top of the Caldon-Low
There was no one left but me.

"And all on the top of the Caldon-Low
The mists were cold and gray,

And nothing I saw but the mossy stones
That round about me lay.

"But, coming down from the hill-top, I heard, afar below,

How busy the jolly miller was,

And how merry the wheel did go!

"And I peeped into the widow's field,
And, sure enough, was seen
The yellow ears of the mildewed corn
All standing stout and green.

"And down the weaver's croft I stole, To see if the flax were sprung;

And I met the weaver at his gate

With the good news on his tongue!

"Now, this is all I heard, mother, And all that I did see;

So, prithee, make my bed, mother,

For I'm tired as I can be!"

233

Mary Howitt (1799-1888]

THE FAIRIES

Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,

Trooping all together;

Green jacket, red cap,

And white owl's feather!