Poems (Emma M. Ballard Bell)/Isles of the Fairies
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, And joining their hands in their own fairy style,They gayly danced over their beautiful isle;When, gazing afar o'er the billowy tide,They saw a boat land on the isle's farther side.
And lingering not, to the bower of their queenThey hastened, and told her of this they had seen;She blew with her trumpet a clear blast so shrillThat all came around her to list to her will;And just as the sun ushered in the fair day,With speed of the lightning they hastened away.
And no one can tell where the fairies have flown;The fate of their queen hath not truly been known;But blithe, airy voices some strange stories tell:They say that she lives in a beautiful shellFar down in the depths of an old ocean cave,Beneath the white foam of the billowy wave.
They say that she, too, has a palace, whose hallsHave emerald portals and coral-wreathed walls;And wears a bright diamond-gemmed crown on her head,Brought up from the depths of the old ocean's bed;With mermaids and ocean nymphs daily she rovesThrough glens of the sea-flower and mystic alcoves.