Poems
Up the airy mountain,Down the rushy glen,We daren’t go a-huntingFor fear of little men;Wee folk, good folk,Trooping all together;Green jacket, red cap,And white owl’s feather!
Down along the rocky shoreSome make their home,They live on crispy pancakesOf yellow tide-foam;Some in the reedsOf the black mountain lake,With frogs for their watch-dogs,All night awake.
High on the hill-topThe old King sits;He is now so old and grayHe’s nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mistColumbkill he crosses,On his stately journeysFrom Slieveleague to Rosses;Or going up with musicOn cold starry nightsTo sup with the QueenOf the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little BridgetFor seven years long;When she came down againHer friends were all gone.They took her lightly back,Between the night and morrow,They thought that she was fast asleep,But she was dead with sorrow.They have kept her ever sinceDeep within the lake,On a bed of flag-leaves,Watching till she wake.
By the craggy hill-side,Through the mosses bare,They have planted thorn-treesFor pleasure here and there.If any man so daringAs dig them up in spite,He shall find their sharpest thornsIn his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain,Down the rushy glen,We daren’t go a-huntingFor fear of little men;Wee folk, good folk,Trooping all together;Green jacket, red cap,And white owl’s feather!
Words in this poem
- rushy a.
- Abounding with rushes.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- crispy a.
- Formed into short, close ringlets; frizzed; crisp; as, crispy locks.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Allingham, Poems, (1824–1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-william-allingham/the-fairies.html, id L16238.
Form and metre
The Fairies is 56 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.7 syllables. 16 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AA-A-B-B mountainA · glenA · hunting · menA · folk · togetherB · cap · featherB
- 2 -A-A-B-B shore · homeA · pancakes · foamA · reeds · lakeB · dogs · awakeB
- 3 -A-A top · sitsA · gray · witsA
- 4 -----A-A mist · crosses · journeys · rosses · music · nightsA · queen · lightsA
- 5 -----A-A-B-B bridget · long · again · gone · back · morrowA · asleep · sorrowA · since · lakeB · leaves · wakeB
- 6 -A-A-B-B side · bareA · trees · thereA · daring · spiteB · thorns · nightB
- 7 AA-A-B-B mountainA · glenA · hunting · menA · folk · togetherB · cap · featherB
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 iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Up the airy mountain, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Down the rushy glen, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| We daren’t go a-hunting | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For fear of little men; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wee folk, good folk, | 4 | ···· |
| Trooping all together; | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Green jacket, red cap, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And white owl’s feather! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Down along the rocky shore | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Some make their home, | 4 | ···· |
| They live on crispy pancakes | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| Of yellow tide-foam; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Some in the reeds | 4 | ···· |
| Of the black mountain lake, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With frogs for their watch-dogs, | 6 | ······ |
| All night awake. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| High on the hill-top | 5 | ····· |
| The old King sits; | 4 | ···· |
| He is now so old and gray | 7 | ······· |
| He’s nigh lost his wits. | 5 | ····· |
| With a bridge of white mist | 6 | ······ |
| Columbkill he crosses, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| On his stately journeys | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| From Slieveleague to Rosses; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or going up with music | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| On cold starry nights | 5 | ··/˘· |
| To sup with the Queen | 5 | ····· |
| Of the gay Northern Lights. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They stole little Bridget | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| For seven years long; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| When she came down again | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Her friends were all gone. | 5 | ····· |
| They took her lightly back, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Between the night and morrow, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| They thought that she was fast asleep, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But she was dead with sorrow. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| They have kept her ever since | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Deep within the lake, | 5 | ····· |
| On a bed of flag-leaves, | 6 | ······ |
| Watching till she wake. | 5 | /˘··· |
| By the craggy hill-side, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Through the mosses bare, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| They have planted thorn-trees | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| For pleasure here and there. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| If any man so daring | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| As dig them up in spite, | 6 | ······ |
| He shall find their sharpest thorns | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In his bed at night. | 5 | ····· |
| Up the airy mountain, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Down the rushy glen, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| We daren’t go a-hunting | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For fear of little men; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wee folk, good folk, | 4 | ···· |
| Trooping all together; | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Green jacket, red cap, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And white owl’s feather! | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.