THE FAIRY PENDANT

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 in 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 I will wander,

And measure the minds of the flowers,

And gaze on the meadow-mice wary,

And number their days and their hours--

All: You're 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 nightingle's egg,

And cradled me here where are sung,

Of birds even, longings for aery

Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue.

All: You're wasting away, little fairy.

First Fairy [turning away]: Though the tenderest roses were round you,

The soul of this pitiless place

With pitiless magic has bound you--

Ah! woe for the loss of your face,

And the loss of your laugh with 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.

We'll dance and then feast in a dairy.

Though youngest of all in our good band,

She's wasting away, little fairy.