Rose Fyleman

“ In Smith Square, Westminster, you must not make a noise,
No shrill-voiced vendors harbour there, no shouting errand-boys;
But very busy gentlemen step swiftly out and in
With little leather cases and umbrellas neatly thin.
Yet sometimes when the summer night her starry curtain spreads,
And all the busy gentlemen are sleeping in their beds,
You hear a gentle humming like the humming of a hive,
And Smith Square, Westminster, begins to come alive. ”

“ Comes an added rush of sound to the silver din—
Songs of fairy troubadours gaily joining in.
When athwart the drowsy fields summer twilight falls,
Through the tranquil air there float elfin madrigals
And in wild November nights, on the winds astride,
Fairy hosts go rushing by, singing as they ride.
Every dream that mortals dream, sleeping or awake,
Every lovely fragile hope—these the fairies take,
Delicately fashion them and give them back again
In tender, limpid melodies that charm the hearts of men. ”

“ And I shall sing their fairy song
As joyfully I float along—
I shall not need a sail.
And peering through a starlit haze
I presently shall see,
Where swift the waiting reeds unclose,
The fairies all in rows and rows
Waiting to welcome me.
SMITH SQUARE, WESTMINSTER In Smith Square, Westminster, the houses stand so prim,
With slender railings at their feet and windows straight and slim;
And all day long they staidly stare with gentle placid gaze,
And dream of joyous happenings in splendid bygone days. ”

“ FAIRY MUSIC
When the fiddlers play their tunes you may sometimes hear,
Very softly chiming in, magically clear,
Magically high and sweet, the tiny crystal notes
Of fairy voices bubbling free from tiny fairy throats. ”

“ Small wonder they are so intent,
They are the fairies' Parliament—
They make the fairy laws.
They never seem to stop all day,
And you can hear from far away
Their busy chatter-chat.
They work so very hard indeed
You'd wonder that the fairies need
So many laws as that.
THE ROBIN The robin is the fairies' page;
They keep him neatly dressed
For country service or for town
In dapper livery of brown
And little scarlet vest.
On busy errands all day long
He hurries to and fro
With watchful eyes and nimble wings—
There are not very many things
The robin doesn't know. ”

“ She hears the gentle cadence of bird and wind and stream,
They make a little song for her, like singing in a dream.
Across the distant valley the pleasant sunbeams fall;
The children in the cowslip field merrily laugh and call.
She does not hear their laughter, she does not feel the sun,
She cannot leave the shadowed wood until the spell is done.
THE GOBLIN TO THE FAIRY QUEEN
What do you lack, queen, queen,
That is precious and fine and rare? ”

“ With a wise old weasel, a rat and a frog,
Will come a-capering over the fell
And put you under a horrible spell;
Your feathers will moult and your voice will crack—
Go back, you silly old bird, go back! ”

“ Spindle-wood, spindle-wood, will you lend me, pray,
A little flaming lantern to guide me on my way?
The fairies all have vanished from the meadow and the glen
And I would fain go seeking till I find them once again.
Lend me now a lantern that I may bear a light
To find the hidden pathway in the darkness of the night. ”

“ A garden and a summer-house a little bit like ours,
And trees with leaves like feathers and the most enormous flowers.
I don't care much for porridge in an ordinary way
(Though it's jolly when there's treacle and your Nanna
lets you play) ,
But when I stop at Grannie's house I like it every day.
THE FAIRY GREEN
Upon the magic green I stood
Within the fairy ling,
Close to the little rustling wood
Where fairies always sing. ”

“ There are no wolves in England now, nor any grizzly bears;
You could not meet them after dark upon the attic stairs.
When Nanna goes to fetch the tea there is no need at all
To leave the nursery door ajar in case you want to call.
And mother says, in fairy tales, those bits are never true
That tell you all the dreadful deeds that wicked fairies do.
And wouldn't it be silly for a great big girl like me
To be the leastest bit afraid of things that couldn't be? ”