| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (18331908). A Victorian Anthology, 18371895. 1895. |
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| The Fairy Thrall |
| | | Mary C. G. Byron (b. 1861) |
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| ON gossamer nights when the moon is low, | |
| And stars in the mist are hiding, | |
| Over the hill where the foxgloves grow | |
| You may see the fairies riding. | |
| Kling! Klang! Kling! | 5 |
| Their stirrups and their bridles ring, | |
| And their horns are loud and their bugles blow, | |
| When the moon is low. | |
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| They sweep through the night like a whistling wind, | |
| They pass and have left no traces; | 10 |
| But one of them lingers far behind | |
| The flight of the fairy faces. | |
| She makes no moan, | |
| She sorrows in the dark alone, | |
| She wails for the love of human kind, | 15 |
| Like a whistling wind. | |
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| Ah! why did I roam where the elfins ride, | |
| Their glimmering steps to follow? | |
| They bore me far from my loved ones side, | |
| To wander oer hill and hollow. | 20 |
| Kling! Klang! Kling! | |
| Their stirrups and their bridles ring, | |
| But my heart is cold in the cold night-tide, | |
| Where the elfins ride. | |
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