THE INVISIBLE ELVES.
I
The wee Heinzelmanchens were elves of repute,
They watch'd o'er each housewife's domestic pursuit;
The ovens were heated, the chambers were swept
By her pigmy assistants, while soundly she slept;
The proof of their industry shone on her shelves,
Yet none had e'er seen these invisible elves.
II
Dame Bridget, whose spouse was a baker by trade,
Ow'd much to the sprite's supernatural aid.
But curious women, like children, will break
A toy to discover the trick of its make.
“No mortal has seen them,” said she to herself,
“What can they be made of? I must catch an Elf.”
III
All night she sat watching, but not a mouse stirr'd:
All night too she listen'd, but nothing was heard:
They never came near her; she weeps and she prays;
But she toils for herself all the rest of her days.
She paid for her peeping, a common mishap:
Curiosity caught in her own little trap.
