The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang | ||
174
To Francis McCunn
Loos, 1915
You like the things I used to like,
The things I'm fond of still,
The sound of fairy wands that strike
Men into beasts at will.
The things I'm fond of still,
The sound of fairy wands that strike
Men into beasts at will.
The cruel step-mother, the fair
Step-daughter, kind and leal,
The bull and bear so debonair,
The trenchant fairy steel.
Step-daughter, kind and leal,
The bull and bear so debonair,
The trenchant fairy steel.
You love the world where brute and fish
Converse with man and bird,
Where dungeons open at a wish,
And seas dry at a word.
Converse with man and bird,
Where dungeons open at a wish,
And seas dry at a word.
That merry world to-day we leave,
We list an o'er-true tale
Of hearts that sore for Charlie grieve,
When handsome princes fail;
We list an o'er-true tale
Of hearts that sore for Charlie grieve,
When handsome princes fail;
175
Of gallant races overthrown,
Of dungeons ill to climb,
There's no such tale of trouble known
In all the fairy time.
Of dungeons ill to climb,
There's no such tale of trouble known
In all the fairy time.
There, Montezuma still were king;
There, Charles would wear the crown;
And there the Highlanders would ding
The Hanoverian down.
There, Charles would wear the crown;
And there the Highlanders would ding
The Hanoverian down.
In Fairyland the Rightful Cause
Is never long a-winning,
In Fairyland the fairy laws
Are prompt to punish sinning:
Is never long a-winning,
In Fairyland the fairy laws
Are prompt to punish sinning:
For Fairyland's the land of joy,
And this the world of pain;
So back to Fairyland, my boy,
We'll journey once again.
And this the world of pain;
So back to Fairyland, my boy,
We'll journey once again.
The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang | ||