The Fairies Poem by William Allingham

The Fairies

Rating: 3.7


Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!

Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.

High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
He's nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music
On cold starry nights
To sup with the Queen
Of the gay Northern Lights.

They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back,
Between the night and morrow,
They thought that she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag-leaves,
Watching till she wake.

By the craggy hill-side,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn-trees
For pleasure here and there.
If any man so daring
As dig them up in spite,
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his bed at night.

Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Scott Doty 12 April 2007

This has always been one of my favorites! ! Willy Wonka fans may know the first few lines :)

2 3 Reply
Carol Maydew 26 March 2013

This takes me back to my Junior school days when the teacher taught the poem in the form of a song. The first verse sometimes seems to grab hold of my mind and goes round and round in my head.

1 3 Reply
Mark Arvizu 15 June 2015

For fear of little men........

1 3 Reply
Chetan Pandey 11 December 2015

Wow

1 3 Reply
Margaret O Driscoll 10 July 2016

A favourite poem from school days!

1 2 Reply
Matt Turner 09 February 2020

My Grandfather sang the first two stanzas of this song with his parents in the 1920s and the song has been passed down as a car trip sing-along in our family ever since. My children love it too.

3 0 Reply
Varina Yazell 03 May 2018

Very well written. I really enjoyed

1 1 Reply
Sylvaonyema Uba 23 February 2017

High on the hill top The old king sits Nicely written with musical harmony. Sylva.

1 1 Reply
Sally Plumb Plumb 17 January 2017

Lovely! The first stanza reminds of. nursery recitations.

0 2 Reply
* Sunprincess * 14 January 2017

.....a most fabulous and fantastic fairy poem, I enjoyed ★

0 2 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success