Tripping hither, tripping thither, Nobody knows why or whither; We must dance and we must sing Round about our fairy ring! SOLO—CELIA. We are dainty little fairies, Ever singing, ever dancing; We indulge in our vagaries In a fashion most entrancing. If you ask the special function Of our never-ceasing motion, We reply, without compunction, That we haven't any notion! CHORUS. No, we haven't any notion! Tripping hither, etc. SOLO—LEILA. If you ask us how we live, Lovers all essentials give— We can ride on lovers' sighs, Warm ourselves in lovers' eyes, Bathe ourselves in lovers' tears, Clothe ourselves with lovers' fears, Arm ourselves with lovers' darts, Hide ourselves in lovers' hearts. When you know us, you'll discover That we almost live on lover! CHORUS. Yes, we live on lover! Tripping hither, etc. (At the end of Chorus, all sigh wearily.) CELIA. Ah, it's all very well, but since our Queen banished Iolanthe, fairy revels have not been what they were! LEILA. Iolanthe was the life and soul of Fairyland. Why, she wrote all our songs and arranged all our dances! We sing her songs and we trip her measures, but we don't enjoy ourselves! FLETA. To think that five-and-twenty years have elapsed since she was banished! What could she have done to have deserved so terrible a punishment? LEILA. Something awful! She married a mortal! FLETA. Oh! Is it injudicious to marry a mortal? LEILA. Injudicious? It strikes at the root of the whole fairy system! By our laws, the fairy who marries a mortal dies! CELIA. But Iolanthe didn't die! (Enter Fairy Queen.)