The Blue-bells on the Lea
Fairy King.
“The breeze is on the Blue-bells,
The wind is on the lea;
Stay out! stay out! my little lad,
And chase the wind with me.
If you will give yourself to me,
Within the fairy ring,
At deep midnight,
When stars are bright,
You’ll hear the Blue-bells ring—
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
On slender stems they swing.
“The rustling wind, the whistling wind,
We’ll chase him to and fro,
We’ll chase him up, we’ll chase him down
To where the King-cups grow;
And where old Jack-o’-Lantern waits
To light us on our way,
And far behind,
Upon the wind,
The Blue-bells seem to play—
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
Lest we should go astray.
“So gay that fairy music,
So jubilant those bells,
How days and weeks and months go by
No happy listener tells!
The toad-stools are with sweetmeats spread,
The new Moon lends her light,
And ringers small
Wait, one and all,
To ring with all their might—
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
And welcome you to night.”
Boy.
“My mother made me promise
To be in time for tea,
‘Go home! go home!’ the breezes say,
That sigh along the lea.
I dare not give myself away;
For what would Mother do?
I wish I might
Stay out all night
At fairy games with you.
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
And hear the bells of blue.
“But Father sleeps beneath the grass,
And Mother is alone:
And who would fill the pails, and fetch
The wood when I am gone?
And who, when little Sister ails,
Can comfort her, but me?
Her cries and tears
Would reach my ears
Through all the melody—
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
Of Blue-bells on the lea.”
The sun was on the Blue-bells,
The lad was on the lea.
“Oh, wondrous bells! Oh, fairy bells!
I pray you ring to me.
I only did as Mother bade,
For tea I did not care,
And winds at night
Give more delight
Than all this noonday glare.”
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
No sound of bells was there.
Boy.
“The snow lies o’er the Blue-bells,
A storm is on the lea;
Our hearth is warm, the fire burns bright,
The flames dance merrily.
Oh, Mother dear! I would no more
That on that summer’s day,
Within the ring,
The Fairy King
Had stolen me away—
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
To where the Blue-bells play.
“Yet when the storm is loudest,
At deep midnight I dream,
And up and down upon the lea
To chase the wind I seem;
While by my side, in feathered cap,
There runs the Fairy King,
And down below,
Beneath the snow,
We hear the Blue-bells ring—
D!
DI! DIN!
DING!
Such happy dreams they bring!”