Dance Of The Fairies.

by John Grosvenor Wilson

Who are these that gather in the green moonshine
Round the sleeping rose-tree and the rose-tree vine,
By the folden lily and the scarlet bloom,
Frightening the cuckoo in the leafy gloom?
See, they dance, dance, dance,
And the trance
Of a wild enchantment creepeth
O'er the rose-tree as it sleepeth,
And they sway, sway, sway;
For the day is far away,
For the night is not yet over,
And each flying fairy lover
Hears the ringing joyous measure
As he dances, dances, dances,
Thinking, -- What is life but pleasure
And a happy lover's fancies

And the green leaves bending with the tripping feet
Hear the far-off answer ringing clear and sweet,
Water-fays are dancing on the singing waves,
Merry elves are dancing in the green seacaves;
See, they dance, dance, dance,
And the glance
Of the moon upon them falleth,
Thro' the wreathing spray she calleth
And they sway, sway, sway;
But they hear her voice and listen,
And they shimmer and they glisten
In the splendor of the spray
As they dance, dance, dance,
To the music of the kobold
Who from out his den has hobbled,
With a sea-shell at his mouth,
And a wind from off the south,
He is blowing, blowing, blowing,
And the summer-night is going,
But they dance, dance. dance, dance,
Dance it away.

From the forest flitting out the elfin bands
Meet the sea-fays dancing on the moon-lit sands,
Joining hands they revel thro' the joyous night
In the green light of the moon and the faint starlight;
See, they dance, dance, dance,
And the lance
Of the red star breaks upon them
And the dew is shining on them
As they sway, sway, sway;
Careless now of whence or whither,
Skipping hither, skipping thither,
In the night that soon must wither,
Die, and fade away.