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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RETURN OF THE FAIRY: 4. THE CONDITION OF HER RESIDENCE THERE by HUMBERT WOLFE

First Line: IT WAS THEREFORE PROCLAIMED / THAT THE SPRITE N OR M
Last Line: AND DISSOLVE ON THE AIR.
Subject(s): COURTS & COURTIERS;
IT was therefore proclaimed
that the sprite N or M
(of course she had names but
I mayn't mention them),
as a mark of high favour
was ordered to leave
for what men call London
on Midsummer Eve.
She might go where she pleased,
and stay at her will
as long as she liked, unless
and until
she forgot, if she made
the merest suggestion,
when living with men, of what
might be a question,
it was laid down by statute
(so let her beware)
she would instantly fade,
and dissolve on the air.



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