He stood alone outside the fairy hill, Beneath the horned moon, And heard below the grasses, gay and shrill, An elfin tune. There came to him a memory faint and far Of things he once had known-- A square of window and a twinkling star, A warm hearth-stone. He set soft feet upon the turfy path, Crushing the scented thyme; He turned his back upon the fairy rath, The hidden chime. He passed the swaying foxgloves by the wall, And left the stream behind; A startled rabbit through the brackens tall Fled like the wind. Drawn by a baby thought of mother-eyes, He pattered down the lane To the low house, and standing tip-toe-wise, Peeped through the pane. A woman hushed a wakeful child to sleep Beside a dying fire. "Husho, husho," she crooned, "and do not weep, O heart's desire." "Lie still and sleep, nor fear the fairies' wile; No harm shall come to thee." Outside, her baby saw the changeling smile Upon her knee. With dimpled hand he beat upon the glass. The woman drew the blind; "Husho, my child, dost hear the fairies pass Upon the wind?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OFF THE GROUND by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE HARRY PLOUGHMAN by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG by ANNIE CHAMBERS KETCHUM MILTON; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW LET US REASON TOGETHER by LEVI BISHOP |