The Candle Fairy
The candle is a fairy houseThat’s smooth and round and white,And Mother carries it aboutWhenever it is night.
Right at the top a fairy lives,A lovely yellow one,And if you blow a little bitIt has all sorts of fun.
It bows and dances by itselfIn such a clever way,And then it stretches very tall;“Well, it grows fast,” you say.
The little chimney of the houseIs black and really sweet,And there the candle fairy standsThough you can’t see its feet.
And when the dark is very bigAnd you’ve been having dreams,Then Mother brings the candle in;How friendly like it seems!
It’s only just for Mothers thatThe candle Fairy comes;And if you play with it, it bitesYour fingers and your thumbs.
But still you love it very muchThis candle Fairy, dear,Because, at night, it always meansThat Mother’s very near.
Words in this poem
- chimney n.
- A fireplace or hearth. Sir W. Raleigh.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Candle Fairy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #59276; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Katherine Mansfield, The Candle Fairy, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/the-candle-fairy.html, id L27619.
Form and metre
The Candle Fairy is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A house · whiteA · about · nightA
- 2 -A-A lives · oneA · bit · funA
- 3 -A-A itself · wayA · tall · sayA
- 4 -A-A house · sweetA · stands · feetA
- 5 -A-A big · dreamsA · in · seemsA
- 6 -A-A that · comesA · bites · thumbsA
- 7 -A-A much · dearA · means · nearA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The candle is a fairy house | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That’s smooth and round and white, | 6 | ······ |
| And Mother carries it about | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Whenever it is night. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Right at the top a fairy lives, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A lovely yellow one, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And if you blow a little bit | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It has all sorts of fun. | 6 | ······ |
| It bows and dances by itself | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In such a clever way, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And then it stretches very tall; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| “Well, it grows fast,” you say. | 6 | ······ |
| The little chimney of the house | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Is black and really sweet, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And there the candle fairy stands | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Though you can’t see its feet. | 6 | ······ |
| And when the dark is very big | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And you’ve been having dreams, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then Mother brings the candle in; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| How friendly like it seems! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It’s only just for Mothers that | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The candle Fairy comes; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And if you play with it, it bites | 8 | ········ |
| Your fingers and your thumbs. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But still you love it very much | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This candle Fairy, dear, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Because, at night, it always means | 8 | ·····/·· |
| That Mother’s very near. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.