Elfin music : $b An anthology of English fairy poetry
General
Elfin music : $b An anthology of English fairy poetry
English poetry; Fairy poetry, English
Save us all from Fairy thrall!
Ellen sees her face the rim
Twice and thrice, and that is all—
Fount and hill and maiden swim,
All together melting dim!
“Una! Una!” thou may’st call,
Sister sad! but lith or limb
(Save us all from Fairy thrall!)
Never again of Una bawn
Where now she walks in dreamy hall
Shall eye of mortal look upon!
Oh! can it be the guard was gone,
That better guard than shield or wall?
Who knows on earth save Turlagh Daune?
(Save us all from Fairy thrall!)
Behold the banks are green and bare,
No pit is here wherein to fall:
Aye—at the fount you well may stare,
But nought save pebbles smooth is there,
And small streams twirling one and all.
Hie thee home, and be thy pray’r,
Save us all from Fairy thrall!
SAMUEL FERGUSON, LL.D., M.R.I.A.
THE KELPIE OF CORRIEVRECKAN.
I.
He mounted his steed of the water clear,
And sat on his saddle of sea-weed sere;
He held his bridle of strings of pearl,
Dug out of the depths where the sea-snakes curl.
II.
He put on his vest of the whirlpool froth,
Soft and dainty as velvet cloth,
And donn’d his mantle of sand so white,
And grasp’d his sword of the coral bright.
III.
And away he gallop’d, a horseman free,
Spurring his steed through the stormy sea,
Clearing the billows with bound and leap—
Away, away, o’er the foaming deep!
IV.
By Scarba’s rock, by Lunga’s shore,
By Garveloch isles where the breakers roar,
With his horse’s hoofs he dash’d the spray,
And on to Loch Buy, away, away!
V.
On to Loch Buy all day he rode,
And reach’d the shore as sunset glow’d,
And stopp’d to hear the sounds of joy
That rose from the hills and glens of Moy.
VI.
The morrow was May, and on the green
They’d lit the fire of Beltan E’en,
And danced around, and piled it high
With peat and heather and pine-tops dry.
VII.
A piper play’d a lightsome reel,
And timed the dance with toe and heel;
While wives look’d on, as lad and lass
Trod it merrily o’er the grass.
VIII.
And Jessie (fickle and fair was she)
Sat with Evan beneath a tree,
And smiled with mingled love and pride,
And half agreed to be his bride.
IX.
The Kelpie gallop’d o’er the green—
He seemed a knight of noble mien,
And old and young stood up to see,
And wonder’d who the knight could be.
X.
His flowing locks were auburn bright,
His cheeks were ruddy, his eyes flash’d light;
And as he sprang from his good gray steed,
He look’d a gallant youth indeed.
XI.
And Jessie’s fickle heart beat high,
As she caught the stranger’s glancing eye:
And when he smiled, “Ah well,” thought she,
“I wish this knight came courting me!”
XII.
He took two steps towards her seat—
“Wilt thou be mine, O maiden sweet?”
He took her lily-white hand, and sigh’d,
“Maiden, maiden, be my bride!”
XIII.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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