THE FAIRIES

Come, follow, follow me

You fairy elves that be

Which circle on the green,

Come, follow Mab, your queen,

Hand in hand, lets dance around,

For this place is fairy ground.

When the mortals are at rest,

And snoring in their rest,

Unheard and unspied

Through keyholes we do glide;

Over tables, stools, and shelves,

We trip it with our fairy elves.

Upon a mushroom's head

Our table-cloth we spread;

A grain of rye or wheat

Is manchet, which we eat;

Pearly drops of dew we drink

In acorn-cups fill'd to the brink.

The grasshoppers,gnat, and fly,

Serve for our minstrelsy;

Grace said, we dance awhile,

And so the time beguile;

And if the moon doth hide her head,

The glow-worm lights us home to bed.

On tops of dewy grass

So nimbly do we pass,

The young and tender stalk

Ne'er bends when we do walk;

Yet in the morning may be seen

Where we the night before have been.