From The Book of Fairy Poetry, published in 1920, this is one of several fairy poems written by Fiona Macleod which deals with fairies on a powerful, adult, and real level. One of my favorite passages illustrates this point: “They laugh and are glad, And are terrible: When their lances shake, Every green reed quivers.” This is definitely not a child’s fairy poem–
How beautiful they are,
The lordly ones
Who dwell in the hills,
In the hollow hills.
* * * * *
They have faces like flowers
And their breath is wind
That blows over grass
Filled with dewy clover.
* * * * *
Their limbs are more white
Than shafts of moonshine:
They are more fleet
Than the March wind.
* * * * *
They laugh and are glad
And are terrible:
When their lances shake
Every green reed quivers.
* * * * *
How beautiful they are,
How beautiful,
The lordly ones
In the hollow hills.
* * * * *
I would go back
To the Country of the Young,
And see again
The lances of the Shee,
* * * * *
As they keep their hosting
With laughing cries
In pale places
Under the moon.
that poem is awesome!
does dreaming of an elves is kind of communicating also with them? but that time i’m not that interested! dreaming in a row, night after night! t.t
Hi val,
Yes, this is one of my favorite faery poems…
I think I have answered this on another post but yes, I do think that dreaming of elves talking to you is definitely a communication from them –
Natalie
I remember hearing this poem being sung at a musical competition, but cannot find it on the web. Anyone know where I might obtain the sheet music?
Hi Caedfael,
No, sorry, I don’t know about this ever being sung but that is a wonderful idea. Maybe someone here knows this information??
Natalie
I remember having this poem in an anthology of poems and stories when I was about ten years of age.
Hi Colin,
Yes, even though it is often found in anthologies for children–that’s where I found it–I think the writer was writing for adults.
Natalie
i don’t get it when it says they are cruel….
er i mean when it says the laughter is terrible
Grew up singing this song in England in school.
Does anyone know who recorded it,please?
This poem /song can be found on YouTube. It was often recorded on the BBC and was very popular. We sang it as children, so where does the notion come from that it is not suitable for children … Hans Christian Andersen, anyone?
Mairi
The words are by “Fiona Macleod” (pseudonym of William Sharp) and the song comes into Macleod’s fairy play The Immortal Hour (1900). The play was set to music by Rutland Boughton in 1916. With Gwen Frangcon-Davies in a leading role, it drew a “small but enraptured audience”, some of whom went many times, to the Regent Theatre, London, in 1923. See introduction by Terence de Vere White to the Virago Press edition of Love, by Elizabeth von Arnim.
Anyone who wants to hear this being sung will find it on “Kenneth McKellar – The Decca Years.” If you look for it on Amazon, you will be able to listen to an excerpt. It’s a lovely, well rounded version, which hits all the right parts.
ps – sorry, meant to add that the vocal score is also available there.
Thanks Derek, I love this poem and I find William Sharp to be very interesting. Thanks for the info.
Thanks Charon, I will check it out!
I remember this as a song from a play done in elementary school in the 1940′s…a beautiful tune.You can go to You Tube and hear this song sung.