Fairy Tale Poem by Katherine Mansfield

Fairy Tale

Rating: 3.1


Now this is the story of Olaf
Who ages and ages ago
Lived right on the top of a mountain,
A mountain all covered with snow.

And he was quite pretty and tiny
With beautiful curling fair hair
And small hands like delicate flowers--
Cheeks kissed by the cold mountain air.

He lived in a hut made of pinewood
Just one little room and a door
A table, a chair, and a bedstead
And animal skins on the floor.

Now Olaf was partly fairy
And so never wanted to eat;
He thought dewdrops and raindrops were plenty
And snowflakes and all perfumes sweet.

In the daytime when sweeping and dusting
And cleaning were quite at an end,
He would sit very still on the doorstep
And dream--O, that he had a friend!

Somebody to come when he called them,
Somebody to catch by the hand,
Somebody to sleep with at night time,
Somebody who'd quite understand.

One night in the middle of Winter
He lay wide awake on his bed,
Outside there was fury of tempest
And calling of wolves to be fed--

Thin wolves, grey and silent as shadows;
And Olaf was frightened to death.
He had peeped through a crack in the doorpost,
He had seen the white smoke of their breath.

But suddenly over the storm wind
He heard a small voice pleadingly
Cry, "I am a snow fairy, Olaf,
Unfasten the window for me."

So he did, and there flew through the opening
The daintiest, prettiest sprite
Her face and her dress and her stockings,
Her hands and her curls were all white.

And she said, "O you poor little stranger
Before I am melted, you know,
I have brought you a valuable present,
A little brown fiddle and bow.

So now you can never be lonely,
With a fiddle, you see, for a friend,
But all through the Summer and Winter
Play beautiful songs without end."

And then,--O she melted like water,
But Olaf was happy at last;
The fiddle he tucked in his shoulder,
He held his small bow very fast.

So perhaps on the quietest of evenings
If you listen, you may hear him soon,
The child who is playing the fiddle
Away up in the cold, lonely moon.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Liza Sudina 22 March 2018

Playing musical instruments entertains your loneliness.

2 0 Reply
Ruta Mohapatra 22 March 2018

A nice fairy tale indeed, written in a lucid style. A poem for both children and adults!

2 0 Reply
Jeannette Heywood 22 March 2018

Lovely poem. Perfect to read with children

1 0 Reply
Ayesha Cullen 22 March 2018

I am going to give this a 10! How beautifully written! ! I am enchanted.

1 0 Reply
John Richter 04 December 2014

This is an absolute masterpiece! Oh how I wish that I could write like this. I am so glad to have found this author, Katherine Mansfield, on the site's Poem of the Day

1 0 Reply
Manonton Dalan 22 March 2018

i love the music... plus ver nice poem too

0 0 Reply
Susan Williams 22 March 2018

I knew she wrote great short stories - of a different cast than this- -but I never knew she wrote poetry certainly like this. Tis a sweet story for children she wrote here. I think I will go see what else she penned.

0 0 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 22 March 2018

Silent as shadows! ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

0 0 Reply
Geeta Radhakrishna Menon 22 March 2018

A wonderful fairy tale story weaved into a delicate poem. I loved this fascinating poem.

0 0 Reply
Akhtar Jawad 22 March 2018

Truly Beautiful, Katherine Mansfield, basically a story writer, was a good poetess as well.

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success