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Page:Poems Emma M. Ballard Bell.djvu/72

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ISLE OF THE FAIRIES.
A beautiful island there lies far away;And ever around it the sea breezes play.There dwelt on that island a bright fairy queen,As tiny a nymph as hath ever been seen;And with her dwelt many a fair little elf,As beautiful, bright, and as gay as herself.
There all by itself does this lone island stand,And many a long, weary mile from the land.Its turf is as green, decked with blossoms as fairAs flow'rs of the tropics so lovely and rare.And birds build their nests on an old rocky ledge,Whose dark summits hang o'er the clear water's edge.
And never, no, never had mortal foot trodThat isle, with its flowers, meads, and velvety sod;When fairies once chancing the wild waves to roam,Discovered the island and made it their home.They chose from their beautiful number a queen;And surely a lovelier never was seen.
One morn, at the earliest hour of the dawn,Some fairies tripped lightly o'er dew-sprinkled lawn,

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