Faerie Poetry The Fairy Pendant by William Butler Yeats Scene: A circle of Druidic stones First Fairy: Afar from our lawn and our levee, O sister of sorrowful gaze! Where the roses in scarlet are heavy And dream of the end of their days, You move in another dominion And hang o'er the historied stone: Unpruned in your beautiful pinion Who wander and whisper alone. All: Come away while the moon's in the woodland, We'll dance and then feast in a dairy. Though youngest of all in our good band, You are wasting away, little fairy. Second Fairy: Ah! cruel ones, leave me alone now While I murmur a little and ponder The history here in the stone now; Then away and away I will wander, And measure the minds of the flowers, And gaze on the meadow-mice wary, And number their days and their hours-- All: You're wasting away, little fairy. Second Fairy: O shining ones, lightly with song pass, Ah! leave me, I pray you and beg. My mother drew forth from the long grass A piece of a nightingle's egg, And cradled me here where are sung, Of birds even, longings for aery Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue. All: You're wasting away, little fairy. First Fairy [turning away]: Though the tenderest roses were round you, The soul of this pitiless place With pitiless magic has bound you-- Ah! woe for the loss of your face, And the loss of your laugh with its lightness-- Ah! woe for your wings and your head-- Ah! woe for your eyes and their brightness-- Ah! woe for your slippers of red. All: Come away while the moon's in the woodland, We'll dance and then feast in a dairy. Though youngest of all in our good band, She's wasting away, little fairy. The Stolen Child by William Butler Yeats Where dips the rocky highland Of Sleuth Wood in the lake, There lies a leafy island Where flapping herons wake The drowsy water-rats; There we've hid our faery vats, Full of berries And of the reddest stolen cherries. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim grey sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving olden dances, Mingling hands and mingling glances Till the moon has taken flight; To and fro we leap And chase the frothy bubbles, While the world is full of troubles And is anxious in its sleep. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. Where the wandering water gushes From the hills above Glen-Car, In pools among the rushes That scarce could bathe a star, We seek for slumbering trout And whispering in their ears Give them unquiet dreams; Leaning softly out From ferns that drop their tears Over the young streams Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. Away with us he's going, The solemn eyed: He'll hear no more the lowing Of the calves on the warm hillside Or the kettle on the hob Sing peace into his breast, Or see the brown mice bob Round and round the oatmeal-chest. For he comes, the human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, From a world more full of weeping than he can understand. Entertainment at Althorpe an excerpt - by Ben Jonson This is MAB, the mistris-Faerie, That doth nightly rob the dayrie; And she can hurt, or helpe the cherning, (As shee please) without discerning... Shall we strip the skipping jester? This is shee, that empties cradles, Takes out children, puts in ladles: Traynes forth mid-wives in their slumber, With a sive the holes to number And then leads them, from her borroughs, Home through ponds, and water furrowes. from The Life of Robin Goodfellow Pinch and Patch, Gull and Grim, Goe you together; For you can change your shapes, Like to the weather. Sib and Tib, Licke and Lull, You have trickes too; Little Tom Thumb that pipes Shall goe betwixt you. from Nimphidia Hop, and Mop, and Dryp so clear, Pip, and Trip, and Skip that were To Mab, their sovereign, ever dear, Her special maids of honour; Fib, and Tib, and Pinch, and Pin, Tick, and Quick, and Jil, and Jin, Tit, and Nit, and Wap, and Win, The train that wait upon her. forwarded to Rebecca by Gary Russell Child in the backyard, eyes of joy undimm'd. She would come to him, ghost lady, mist friend. **Now is the parting,** **shh, hush child, don't weep,** **I'll see you again dear,** **the next time you sleep.** She only is seen With unclouded eye, When innocence fades, she begins to die. **Now is the parting,** **Shh, hush child, don't weep,** **You'll see me again, dear,** **the next time you sleep.** Time stops for no one, The child enters school; Learns to be rational, Math and science the rule. **Now is the parting, ** **Shh, hush child, don't cry,** **Though you will not see me,** **I'm always near-by.** Child hood is over, The world starts it's call, When faced with such pressure, Innocence must fall. **Now is the parting,** **Be meek and be mild.** **I'll see you again, dear,** **When you become a little child.**