Scene: A circle of Druidic stones
First Fairy: Afar from our lawn and our levee,
O sister of sorrowful gaze!
Where the roses in scarlet are heavy
And dream of the end of their days,
You move in another dominion
And hang o’er the historied stone:
Unpruned in your beautiful pinion
Who wander and whisper alone.
All: Come away while the moon’s in the woodland,
We’ll dance and then feast in a dairy.
Though youngest of all in our good band,
You are wasting away, little fairy.
Second Fairy: Ah! cruel ones, leave me alone now
While I murmur a little and ponder
The history here in the stone now;
Then away and away I will wander,
And measure the minds of the flowers,
And gaze on the meadow-mice wary,
And number their days and their hours–
All: You’re wasting away, little fairy.
Second Fairy: O shining ones, lightly with song pass,
Ah! leave me, I pray you and beg.
My mother drew forth from the long grass
A piece of a nightingle’s egg,
And cradled me here where are sung,
Of birds even, longings for aery
Wild wisdoms of spirit and tongue.
All: You’re wasting away, little fairy.
First Fairy [turning away]: Though the tenderest roses were round you,
The soul of this pitiless place
With pitiless magic has bound you–
Ah! woe for the loss of your face,
And the loss of your laugh with its lightness–
Ah! woe for your wings and your head–
Ah! woe for your eyes and their brightness–
Ah! woe for your slippers of red.
We’ll dance and then feast in a dairy.
Though youngest of all in our good band,
She’s wasting away, little fairy.
