Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs By Walter Thornbury. Illustrated by J. Whistler, F. Walker, John Tenniel, J. D. Watson, W. Small, F. Sandys, G. J. Pinwell, T. Morten, M. J. Lawless, and many others |
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The Good People.
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 | Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs |  |
193
The Good People.
I
Where the fern grew high and branchingAbove the moss and flowers,
I crept as soft as a squirrel
Hiding from Summer showers.
II
I heard the fairy harpersMimic the thrushes' song,
Music to speed the dancing
Of many an elfin throng.
III
Quiet as hunter stealingUpon a sleeping roe,
I stepped between the fir-trees,
All marshalled row by row.
IV
I pressed the pliant branchesThat hid the beech-tree dell,
Where hung the trailing bindweed,
And cords of ivy fell.
V
I sought the greener darknessThrough fern brakes on and on,
Then broke from out the shadow;
But the dancers all were gone.
VI
The glow-worms led me falsely,The thrushes had betrayed,—
The fairies heard the mortal
Entering the magic glade.
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VII
And so they fled for ever;In the enchanted ground
I hear no more by day nor night
The fairy music sound.
| Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs | |