There Are Fairies

I.

There are fairies, bright of eye,
Who the wildflowers' warders are:
Ouphes that chase the firefly;
Elves that ride the shooting star;
Fays who in a cobweb lie,
Swinging on a moonbeam-bar,
Or who harness bumblebees,
Grumbling on the clover leas,
To a blossom or a breeze,
That's their fairy car.
If you care, you too may see
There are fairies verily
There are fairies.

II.

There are fairies. I could swear
I have seen them busy where
Rose leaves loose their scented hair,
In the moonlight weaving weaving
Out of starshine and the dew
Glinting gown and shimmering shoe;
Or within a glow-worm lair
From the dark earth slowly heaving
Mushrooms whiter than the moon,
On whose tops they sit and croon,
With their grig-like mandolins,
To fair fairy ladykins,
Leaning from the window-sill
Of a rose or daffodil,
Listening to their serenade
All of cricket music made.
Follow me, oh, follow me!
Ho! away to faery!
Where your eyes, like mine, may see
There are fairies verily
There are fairies.

III.

There are fairies: elves that swing
In a wild and rainbow ring
Through the air, or mount the wing
Of a bat to courier news
To the fairy queen and king;
Fays who stretch the gossamers
On which twilight hangs the dews;
Or who whisper in the ears
Of the flowers words so sweet
That their hearts are turned to musk
And to honey, things that beat
In their veins of gold and blue;
Ouphes that shepherd moths of dusk
Soft of wing and gray of hue
Forth to pasture on the dew.
There are fairies verily,
Verily;
For the old owl in the tree,
Hollow tree,
He who maketh melody
For them tripping merrily,
Told it me.
There are fairies verily
There are fairies.