The Wonderful Fairies of the Sun/The Cloud Fairies
“High overhead, above the sky,
Their plans are drawn and laid.”
THE CLOUD FAIRIES.
THERE’S another band of Fairies
Who live high in the air,
Who never come down on the Earth,
But stay forever there.
They’re called “The Fairies of the Clouds,”
For all they have to do
Is make designs for different clouds
That please and puzzle you.
High overhead, above the sky
Their plans are drawn and laid,
And down on the Horizon’s rim
The clouds are cut and made.
From there they’re sailed across the sky
In glorious array,
Until upon the farther side
They slowly fade away.
“In a monstrous foundry, where the Wind
A thousand forges blows.”
Whene’er you see one tiny cloud
Alone in all the sky,
Just watch him close, and note his pranks
As he goes skipping by.
He’s slipped beneath the watchful eye
Of the cloud-despatching elf,
And tickled to death because he’s got
The whole sky to himself!
Those little fleecy clouds are made
By pretty Fairy girls,
Who love to have them soft and white,
And fringe their edge with curls.
Then, some are like huge balls of wool,
Or sheets of drifting snow,
That stretch before the Moon at night,
Who sets them all aglow.
Then there’s the frightful thunder-clouds!
The Fairy men make those
In a monstrous foundry, where the Wind
A thousand forges blows.
They fill these clouds with dynamite,
And the little Fairy boys
Explode them during thunder-storms
With a fearful flash and noise.
“In a magic-lantern held before
The slowly setting sun.”
But these Fairies’ Special Artist
Has a studio by himself;
And you can rest assured he is
A very busy elf:
For he paints all the sunset clouds
In all their tints and rays,
And shows them off at eventide
On pleasant summer days.
He paints them first on strips of glass,
And holds them one by one
In a magic lantern held before
The slowly setting sun.
And if you watch you’ll often see
A scarlet change to blue,
Or a white to pink, which plainly proves
That what I say is true.
