Upon the road to Faerie,
O there are many sights to see,--
Small woodland folk may one discern
Housekeeping under leaf and fern,
And little tunnels in the grass
Where caravans of goblins pass,
And airy corsair-craft that float
On wings transparent as a mote,--
All sorts of curious things can be
Upon the road to Faerie!
Along the wharves of Faerie--
There all the winds of Christendie
Are musical with hawk-bell chimes,
Carillons rung to minstrels' rimes,
And silver trumpets bravely blown
From argosies of lands unknown,
And the great war-drum's wakening roll--
The reveillé of heart and soul--
For news of all the ageless sea
Comes to the quays of Faerie!
Across the fields to Faerie
There is no lack of company,--
The world is real, the world is wide,
But there be many things beside.
Who once has known that crystal spring
Shall not lose heart for anything.
The blessing of a faery wife
Is love to sweeten all your life.
To find the truth whatever it be--
That is the luck of Faerie!
_Above the gates of Faerie
There bends a wild witch-hazel tree.
The fairies know its elfin powers.
They wove a garland of the flowers,
And on a misty autumn day
They crowned their queen--and ran away!
And by that gift they made you free
Of all the roads of Faerie!_