Once on a time I used to dream Strange spirits moved about my way, And I might catch a vagrant gleam, A glint of pixy or of fay; Their lives were mingled with my own, So far they roamed, so near they drew; And when I from a child had grown, I woke—and found my dream was true. For one is clad in coat of fur, And one is decked with feathers gay; Another, wiser, will prefer A sober suit of Quaker grey: This one's your servant from his birth, And that a Princess you must please, And this one loves to wake your mirth, And that one likes to share your ease. O gracious creatures, tiny souls! You seem so near, so far away, Yet while the cloudland round us rolls, We love you better every day. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CAGED SKYLARK by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS SUMMER'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT: SPRING by THOMAS NASHE MARY'S GIRLHOOD (FOR A PICTURE): 1 by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI A WORD TO THE 'ELECT' by ANNE BRONTE THE FORFEIT by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR |