"Some of them played with the water, And rolled it down the hill;

'And this,' they said, 'shall speedily turn The poor old miller's mill.

"For there has been no water

Ever since the first of May;
And a busy man will the miller be
At the dawning of the day!

"Oh! the miller, how he will laugh,
When he sees the mill-dam rise!
The jolly old miller, how he will laugh,
Till the tears fill both his eyes!'

"And some they seized the little winds,
That sounded over the hill,

And each put a horn into his mouth,
And blew both loud and shrill:

"And there,' said they, 'the merry winds go

Away from every horn;

And they shall clear the mildew dank

From the blind old widow's corn:

"Oh, the poor blind widow

Though she has been blind so long,

She'll be merry enough when the mildew's gone,

And the corn stands tall and strong!'

"And some they brought the brown linseed

And flung it down the Low:

'And this,' said they, 'by the sunrise In the weaver's croft shall grow!

"Oh, the poor lame weaver!

How will he laugh outright

When he sees his dwindling flax-field
All full of flowers by night!'

"And then outspoke a brownie,
With a long beard on his chin:
'I have spun up all the tow,' said he,
'And I want some more to spin.

"I've spun a piece of hempen cloth
And I want to spin another-
A little sheet for Mary's bed,
And an apron for her mother!'

"With that I could not help but laugh,
And I laughed out loud and free;
And then on the top of the Caldon-Low
There was no one left but me.

"And all on the top of the Caldon-Low
The mists were cold and gray,

And nothing I saw but the mossy stones
That round about me lay.

"But, coming down from the hill-top,
I heard, afar below,

How busy the jolly miller was,

And how merry the wheel did go!

"And I peeped into the widow's field,
And, sure enough, was seen
The yellow ears of the mildewed corn
All standing stout and green.

"And down the weaver's croft I stole.
To see if the flax were sprung;

And I met the weaver at his gate
With the good news on his tongue!

"Now, this is all I heard, mother,

And all that I did see;

So, prithee, make my bed, mother,

For I'm tired as I can be!"

Mary Howitt

A SONG OF SHERWOOD

Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?
Gray and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake;
Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn,
Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.

Robin Hood is here again: all his merry thieves
Hear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves,
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Merry, merry England has kissed the lips of June:
All the wings of fairyland were here beneath the moon,
Like a flight of rose-leaves fluttering in a mist
Of opal and ruby and pearl and amethyst.

Merry, merry England is waking as of old,

With eyes of blither hazel and hair of brighter gold:
For Robin Hood is here again beneath the bursting spray
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Love is in the greenwood building him a house
Of wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs:
Love is in the greenwood, dawn is in the skies,
And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes.

Hark! The dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep!
Marian is waiting: is Robin Hood asleep?

Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay,

In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold,

Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould,
Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,
And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.

Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together With quarter-staff and drinking-can and gray goosefeather;

The dead are coming back again, the years are rolled away
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows;
All the heart of England hid in every rose

Hears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

Hark, the voice of England wakes him as of old
And, shattering the silence with a cry of brighter gold,
Bugles in the greenwood echo from the steep,
Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?

-

Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glen
All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men
Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the May
In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day—

Calls them and they answer: from aisles of oak and ash
Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash;
The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly;
And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.

Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves

Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves:
Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,

In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.

Alfred Noyes

THE FAIRY BOOK

In summer, when the grass is thick, if mother has the time, She shows me with her pencil how a poet makes a rhyme, And often she is sweet enough to choose a leafy nook, Where I cuddle up so closely when she reads the Fairy book.

In winter, when the corn's asleep, and birds are not in song, And crocuses and violets have been away too long,

Dear mother puts her thimble by in answer to my look, And I cuddle up so closely when she reads the Fairy book.

And mother tells the servants that of course they must contrive

To manage all the household things from four till halfpast five,

For we really cannot suffer interruption from the cook, When we cuddle close together with the happy Fairy book. Norman Gale

THE FAIRY FOLK

Come cuddle close in daddy's coat

Beside the fire so bright,

And hear about the fairy folk

That wander in the night.

For when the stars are shining clear
And all the world is still,

They float across the silver moon

From hill to cloudy hill.

Their caps of red, their cloaks of green,

Are hung with silver bells,

And when they're shaken with the wind
Their merry ringing swells.

And riding on the crimson moth,

With black spots on her wings,

They guide them down the purple sky
With golden bridle rings.

They love to visit girls and boys
To see how sweet they sleep,
To stand beside their cosy cots
And at their faces peep.