SPINDLE-WOOD, spindle-wood, will you lend me, pray, A flaming little 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. Ash-tree, ash-tree, throw me, if you please, Throw me down a slender bunch of russet-gold keys. I fear the gates of Fairyland will all be shut so fast That nothing but your magic keys will ever take me past. I'll tie them to my girdle, and as I go along My heart will find a comfort in the tinkle of their song. Holly-bush, holly-bush, help me in my task, A pocketful of berries is all the alms I ask: A pocketful of berries to thread in glowing strands (I would not go a-visiting with nothing in my hands). So fine will be the rosy chains, so gay, so glossy bright They'll set the realms of Fairyland all dancing with delight. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LENNIE SWENSON by KAREN SWENSON COMMON DUST by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A FIESOLAN IDYL by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR A BABY ASLEEP AFTER PAIN by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE NATIONAL ODE; INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA by BAYARD TAYLOR THE WINDOW; OR, THE SONG OF THE WRENS: MARRIAGE MORNING by ALFRED TENNYSON LYSISTRATA: HYMN OF PEACE; CHORUSES OF ATHENIANS AND SPARTANS by ARISTOPHANES |