He flits about the house at night A little lonely fairy; But nobody is there to see, And no one knows—excepting me— He’s not a real canary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RAINY MORNING As I was walking in the rain I met a fairy down a lane. We walked along the road together, I soon forgot about the weather. He told me lots of lovely things: The story that the robin sings, And where the rabbits go to school, And how to know a fairy pool, And what to say and what to do If bogles ever bother you. The flowers peeped from hedgy places And shook the raindrops from their faces, And furry creatures all the way Came popping out and said “Good-day.” But when we reached the little bend, Just where the village houses end, He seemed to slip into the ground, And when I looked about I found The rain was suddenly all over And the sun shining on the clover. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THIS IS THE WAY THE FAIRIES SING This is the way the fairies sing: They all stand round in a shining ring On quiet nights when the moon is high, And lift their faces up to the sky. They read the music out of the stars, There aren’t any notes and there aren’t any bars. And sweet their song as the clover flower, And soft it is as a summer shower, And gay as leaves that the June airs shake, And sad as the mist on an autumn lake. None shall light on a lovelier thing Than the magical song that the fairies sing. This is the way the fairies dance: They point their toes and they leap and prance Over and under and round and round, Now in the air and now on the ground, In a shimmering, glimmering moon-lit maze To a wonderful music that nobody plays. And swift their dance as the coming of spring, And light as the touch of a butterfly’s wing, And strange as the gleams in a stormy sky And changing-bright as the peacock’s dye. Oh, lucky are you if you get the chance To learn the way that the fairies dance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE FAIRY BALL