The Fairy Pedant + 

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 is 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 will I wander, + 

And measure the minds of the flowers, + 

And gaze on the meadow-mice wary, + 

And number their days and their hours⁠— + 

All + 

You are 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 nightingale’s egg, + 

And cradled me here where are sung, + 

Of birds even, longings for aery + 

Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue. + 

All + 

You are wasting away, little fairy. + 

First Fairy + 

Turning away. + 

Though tenderest roses were round you, + 

The soul of the pitiless place + 

With pitiless magic has bound you⁠— + 

Ah! woe for the loss of your face, + 

And loss of your laugh and 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 is wasting away, little fairy. + 