White Rose Fairy

Some Favourite Fairy Poems

This first fairy poem was always recited - from memory - by my Welsh mother-in-law to her grandchildren, who loved it and would beg her to recite it again! Her other 'party pieces' were "A Butterfly In Church" and one about a red tractor, all in Welsh, but "The Fairies" was definitely the children's favourite:

The Fairies

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather.

Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain-lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.

High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
He's nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music,
On cold starry nights,
To sup with the Queen,
Of the gay Northern Lights.

They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back
Between the night and morrow;
They thought she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag leaves,
Watching till she wake.

By the craggy hill-side,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn trees
For pleasure here and there.
Is any man so daring
As dig them up in spite?
He shall find the thornies set
In his bed at night.

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather.

~ William Allingham ~

A golden moon hangs low in velvet sky;
A barn owl sweeps the grass on silent wing.
Under the drooping leaves the wee folk spy
and tiptoe to their fairy ring.

An elven piper tunes his silver flute,
A fairy songster strums her goldern lyre.
The dancers swirl in frantic, wild pursuit
on feet and wings that never tire.

All through the summer night the dance goes on,
With music sweeter than from humankind.
But soon, too soon, the night has gone
and greener grass is left behind.

The fairies wend their way to fairy beds,
To sleep in flowers; soon they close their eyes.
Till evening comes again they rest their heads
while sunshine fills the azure skies.

Some laughing children run onto the grass
And stumble to a halt - look at the ground -
A rich green turf marks where the fairies pass,
with toadstools growing all around.

So if you find a circle growing green,
As rich as any sweet new grass of spring,
Just think of what one night you might have seen
had you chanced on the Fairy Ring!

~ The White Rose Fairy ~
© July 2005

If you see a fairy ring
In a field of grass,
Very lightly step around,
Tiptoe as you pass;
Last night fairies frolicked there,
And they're sleeping somewhere near.

If you see a tiny fae
Lying fast asleep,
Shut your eyes and run away,
Do not stay or peep;
And be sure you never tell,
Or you'll break a fairy spell.

~ William Shakespeare ~

The Fairies In The Sunshine

The little sunshine fairies
Are out on sunny days.
They gaily go a-dancing
Along the country ways.

They paint the flower faces,
The leaves of forest trees,
And tint the little grasses
All waving in the breeze.

They color all the apples
And work for days and weeks
To make the grapes bloom purple
And paint the peaches’ cheeks.

Ah! There’s a tiny fairy!
She’s in the garden bed!
It’s little Ray O’ Sunshine
Who makes the roses red.

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder ~

The Fairy Dew Drop

Down by the spring one morning
Where the shadows still lay deep,
I found in the heart of a flower
A tiny fairy asleep.

Her flower couch was perfumed
Leaf curtains drawn with care,
And there she sweetly slumbered,
With a jewel in her hair.

But a sunbeam entered softly
And touched her, as she lay,
Whispering that ‘twas morning
And fairies must away.

All colors of the rainbow
Were in her robe so bright
As she danced away with the sunbeam
And vanished from my sight.

‘Twas while I watched them dancing,
The sunshine told me true
That my sparkling little fairy
Was lovely Drop O’ Dew.

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder ~

The Child And The Fairies

The woods are full of fairies!
The trees are all alive;
The river overflows with them,
See how they dip and dive!
What funny little fellows!
What dainty little dears!
They dance and leap, and prance and peep,
And utter fairy cheers!
I'd like to tame a fairy,
To keep it on a shelf,
To see it wash its little face,
And dress its little self.
I'd teach it pretty manners,
It always should say "Please";
And then you know I'd make it sew,
And curtsey with its knees!

~ Author Unknown ~

Have You Ever Watched The Fairies?

Have you watched the fairies when the rain is done
Spreading out their little wings to dry them in the sun?
I have, I have! Isn't it fun?

Have you heard the fairies all among the limes
Singing little fairy tunes to little fairy rhymes?
I have, I have, lots and lots of times!

Have you seen the fairies dancing in the air
And dashing off behind the stars to tidy up their hair?
I have, I have: I've been there!

~ Rose Fyleman ~

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