e
Shall see the Fairies on the shore,

Or watch upon a summer night
Their mazy dances of delight!

Far, far away upon the sea,
The waves roll high, the breeze blows free!

The Queen on speckled moth-wings lies,
Slow gazing with a strange surprise

Where swim the sea-nymphs on the tide
Or on the backs of dolphins ride:

The King, upon his rose-bud throne,
Pales as he hears the waters moan;

The elves have ceased their sportive play,
Hushed by the slowly sinking day:

And still afar, afar they float,
The Fairies in their fragile boat,--

Further and further from the shore,
And lost to mortals evermore!

W. H. Davenport Adams.

_A New Fern_

A Fairy has found a new fern!
A lovely surprise of the May!
She stamps her wee foot, looks uncommonly stern,
And keeps other fairies at bay.

She watches it flourish and grow--
What exquisite pleasure is hers!
She kisses it, strokes it and fondles it so--
I almost believe that she purrs!

Of all the most beautiful things,
None brighter than this I discern,
To be a young fairy, with glittering wings,
And then--to discover a fern!

"A."

_The Child and the Fairies_

The woods are full of fairies!
The trees are all alive:
The river overflows with them,
See how they dip and dive!
What funny little fellows!
What dainty little dears!
They dance and leap, and prance and peep,
And utter fairy cheers!

* * * * *

I'd like to tame a fairy,
To keep it on a shelf,
To see it wash its little face,
And dress its little self.
I'd teach it pretty manners,
It always should say "Please;"
And then you know I'd make it sew,
And curtsey with its knees!

"A."

_The Little Elf_

I met a little Elf-man, once,
Down where the lilies blow.
I asked him why he was so small
And why he didn't grow.

He slightly frowned, and with his eye
He looked me through and through.
"I'm quite as big for me," said he,
"As you are big for you."

John Kendrick Bangs.