All Results for Tom Roberts, Author at Flower Fairies - Page 6 of 8

The Winter Aconite Fairy

in The Fairies of The Winter

Deep in the earth
I woke, I stirred.
I said: “Was that the Spring I heard?
For something called!”
“No, no,” they said;
“Go back to sleep. Go back to bed.

“You’re far too soon;
The world’s too cold
For you, so small.” So I was told.
But how could I
Go back to sleep?
I could not wait; I had to peep!

Up, up, I climbed,
And here am I.
How wide the earth! How great the sky!
O wintry world,
See me, awake!
Spring calls, and comes; ’tis no mistake.

The Christmas Tree Fairy

in The Fairies of The Winter

The little Christmas Tree was born
And dwelt in open air;
It did not guess how bright a dress
Some day its boughs would wear;
Brown cones were all, it thought, a tall
And grown-up Fir would bear.

O little Fir! Your forest home
Is far and far away;
And here indoors these boughs of yours
With coloured balls are gay,
With candle-light, and tinsel bright,
For this is Christmas Day!

A dolly-fairy stands on top,
Till children sleep; then she
(A live one now!) from bough to bough
Goes gliding silently.
O magic sight, this joyous night!
O laden, sparkling tree!

The Lords-and-Ladies Fairy

in The Fairies of The Spring

Here’s the song of Lords-and-Ladies
(in the damp and shade he grows):
I have neither bells nor petals,
like the foxglove or the rose.
Through the length and breadth of England,
many flowers you may see—
Petals, bells, and cups in plenty—
but there’s no one else like me.

In the hot-house dwells my kinsman,
Arum-lily, white and fine;
I am not so tall and stately,
but the quaintest hood is mine;
And my glossy leaves are handsome;
I’ve a spike to make you stare;
And my berries are a glory in September. (BUT BEWARE!)

(The Wild Arum has other names beside Lords-and-Ladies, such as Cuckoo-Pint and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.)

The Cowslip Fairy

in The Fairies of The Spring

The land is full of happy birds
And flocks of sheep and grazing herds.

I hear the songs of larks that fly
Above me in the breezy sky.

I hear the little lambkins bleat;
My honey-scent is rich and sweet.

Beneath the sun I dance and play
In April and in merry May.

The grass is green as green can be;
The children shout at sight of me.

The Heart’s-ease Fairy

in The Fairies of The Spring

Like the richest velvet
(I’ve heard the fairies tell)
Grow the handsome pansies
within the garden wall;
When you praise their beauty,
remember me as well—
Think of little Heart’s-ease,
the brother of them all!

Come away and seek me
when the year is young,
Through the open ploughlands
beyond the garden wall;
Many names are pretty
and many songs are sung:
Mine—because I’m Heart’s-ease—
are prettiest of all!

(An old lady says that when she was a little girl the children’s name for the Heart’s-ease or Wild Pansy was Jump-up-and-kiss-me!)

The May Fairy

in The Fairies of The Spring

My buds, they cluster small and green;
The sunshine gaineth heat:
Soon shall the hawthorn tree be clothed
As with a snowy sheet.

O magic sight, the hedge is white,
My scent is very sweet;
And lo, where I am come indeed,
The Spring and Summer meet.

Apple Blossom Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Up in the tree we see you, blossom-babies,
All pink and white;
We think there must be fairies to protect you
From frost and blight,
Until, some windy day, in drifts of petals,
You take your flight.

You’ll fly away! But if we wait with patience,
Some day we’ll find
Here, in your place, full-grown and ripe, the apples
You left behind –
A goodly gift indeed, from blossom-babies
To human-kind!

Bugle Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

At the edge of the woodland
Where good fairies dwell,
Stands, on the look-out,
A brave sentinel.

At the call of his bugle
Out the elves run,
Ready for anything,
Danger, or fun.
Hunting, or warfare,
By moonshine or sun.

With bluebells and campions
The woodlands are gay,
Where bronzy-leaved Bugle
Keeps watch night and day.

Columbine Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Who shall the chosen fairy be
For letter C?
There’s Candytuft, and Cornflower blue,
Campanula and Crocus too,
Chrysanthemum so bold and fine,
And pretty dancing Columbine.

Yes, Columbine! The choice is she;
And with her, see,
An elfin piper, piping sweet
A little tune for those light feet.
That dance among the leaves and flowers
In someone’s garden.
(Is it ours?)

Double Daisy Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Dahlias and Delphiniums,
you’re too tall for me;
Isn’t there a little flower
I can choose for D?

In the smallest flower-bed
Double Daisy lifts his head,
With a smile to greet the sun,
You, and me, and everyone.

Crimson Daisy, now I see
You’re the little lad for me!

The Herb Robert Fairy

in The Fairies of The Summer

Little Herb Robert,
Bright and small,
Peeps from the bank
Or the old stone wall.

Little Herb Robert,
His leaf turns red;
He’s wild geranium,
So it is said.

The Forget-Me-Not Fairy

in The Fairies of The Summer

So small, so blue, in grassy places
My flowers raise
Their tiny faces.

By streams my bigger sisters grow,
And smile in gardens,
In a row.

I’ve never seen a garden plot;
But though I’m small
Forget me not!

The Buttercup Fairy

in The Fairies of The Summer

’Tis I whom children love the best;
My wealth is all for them;
For them is set each glossy cup
Upon each sturdy stem.

O little playmates whom I love!
The sky is summer-blue,
And meadows full of buttercups
Are spread abroad for you.

Eyebright Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Eyebright for letter E:
Where shall we look for him?
Bright eyes we’ll need to see
Someone so small as he.
Where is the nook for him?

Look on the hillside bare,
Nibbled by bunnies;
Harebells and thyme are there,
All in the open air
Where the great sun is.

There in the turf is he,
(No sheltered nook for him!)
Eyebright for letter E,
Saying, “Please, this is me!”
That’s where to look for him.

The Hawthorn Fairy

in The Fairies of The Autumn

These thorny branches bore the May
So many months ago,
That when the scattered petals lay
Like drifts of fallen snow,
“This is the story’s end,” you said;
But O, not half was told!
For see, my haws are here instead,
And hungry birdies shall be fed
On these when days are cold.

Fuchsia Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Fuchsia is a dancer
Dancing on her toes,
Clad in red and purple,
By a cottage wall;
Sometimes in a greenhouse,
In frilly white and rose,
Dressed in her best for the fairies’ evening ball!

The Wild Rose Fairy

in The Fairies of The Summer

I am the queen whom everybody knows:
I am the English Rose;
As light and free as any Jenny Wren,
As dear to Englishmen;

As joyous as a Robin Redbreast’s tune,
I scent the air of June;
My buds are rosy as a baby’s cheek;
I have one word to speak,

One word which is my secret and my song,
’Tis “England, England, England” all day long.

The Mountain Ash Fairy

in The Fairies of The Autumn

They thought me, once, a magic tree
Of wondrous lucky charm,
And at the door they planted me
To keep the house from harm.

They have no fear of witchcraft now,
Yet here am I today;
I’ve hung my berries from the bough,
And merrily I say:

“Come, all you blackbirds, bring your wives,
Your sons and daughters too;
The finest banquet of your lives
Is here prepared for you.”

(The Mountain Ash’s other name is Rowan; and it used to be called Witchentree and Witch-wood too.)

Gorse Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

“When gorse is out of blossom,”
(Its prickles bare of gold)
“Then kissing’s out of fashion,”
Said country-folk of old.
Now Gorse is in its glory
In May when skies are blue,
But when its time is over,
Whatever shall we do?

O dreary would the world be,
With everyone grown cold—
Forlorn as prickly bushes
Without their fairy gold!
But this will never happen:
At every time of year
You’ll find one bit of blossom—
A kiss from someone dear!

The Herb Twopence Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Have you pennies? I have many:
Each round leaf of mine’s a penny,
Two and two along the stem—
Such a business, counting them!
(While I talk, and while you listen,
Notice how the green leaves glisten,
Also every flower-cup:
Don’t I keep them polished up?)

Have you one name? I have many:
“Wandering Sailor”, “Creeping Jenny”,
“Money-wort”, and of the rest
“Strings of Sovereigns” is the best,
(That’s my yellow flowers, you see.)
“Meadow Runagates” is me,
And “Herb Twopence”. Tell me which
Show I stray, and show I’m rich?

The Iris Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

I am Iris: I’m the daughter
Of the marshland and the water.
Looking down, I see the gleam
Of the clear and peaceful stream;
Water-lilies large and fair
With their leaves are floating there;
All the water-world I see,
And my own face smiles at me!

The Jasmine Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

In heat of summer days
With sunshine all ablaze,
Here, here are cool green bowers,
Starry with Jasmine flowers;
Sweet-scented, like a dream
Of Fairyland they seem.

And when the long hot day
At length has worn away,
And twilight deepens, till
The darkness comes—then, still,
The glimmering Jasmine white
Gives fragrance to the night.

The Kingcup Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Golden King of marsh and swamp,
Reigning in your springtime pomp,
Hear the little elves you’ve found
Trespassing on royal ground:—

“Please, your Kingship, we were told
Of your shining cups of gold;
So we came here, just to see—
Not to rob your Majesty!”

Golden Kingcup, well I know
You will smile and let them go!
Yet let human folk beware
How they thieve and trespass there:

Kingcup-laden, they may lose
In the swamp their boots and shoes!

The Lily-of-the-Valley Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Gentle fairies, hush your singing:
Can you hear my white bells ringing,
Ringing as from far away?
Who can tell me what they say?

Little snowy bells out-springing
From the stem and softly ringing—
Tell they of a country where
Everything is good and fair?

Lovely, lovely things for L!
Lilac, Lavender as well;
And, more sweet than rhyming tells,
Lily-of-the-Valley’s bells.

The Mallow Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

I am Mallow; here sit I
Watching all the passers-by.
Though my leaves are torn and tattered,
Dust-besprinkled, mud-bespattered,
See, my seeds are fairy cheeses,
Freshest, finest, fairy cheeses!
These are what an elf will munch
For his supper or his lunch.

Fairy housewives, going down
To their busy market-town,
Hear me wheedling: “Lady, please,
Pretty lady, buy a cheese!”
And I never find it matters
That I’m nicknamed Rags-and-Tatters,
For they buy my fairy cheeses,
Freshest, finest, fairy cheeses!

The Nasturtium Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Nasturtium the jolly,
O ho, O ho!
He holds up his brolly
Just so, just so!
(A shelter from showers,
A shade from the sun;)
’Mid flame-coloured flowers
He grins at the fun.

Up fences he scrambles,
Sing hey, sing hey!
All summer he rambles
So gay, so gay—
Till the night-frost strikes chilly,
And Autumn leaves fall,
And he’s gone, willy-nilly,
Umbrella and all.

The Orchis Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

The families of orchids,
they are the strangest clan,
With spots and twists resembling
a bee, or fly, or man;
And some are in the hot-house,
and some in foreign lands,
But Early Purple Orchis
in English pasture stands.

He loves the grassy hill-top,
he breathes the April air;
He knows the baby rabbits,
he knows the Easter hare,
The nesting of the skylarks,
the bleat of lambkins too,
The cowslips, and the rainbow,
the sunshine, and the dew.

O orchids of the hot-house,
what miles away you are!
O flaming tropic orchids,
how far, how very far!

The Pansy Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Pansy and Petunia,
Periwinkle, Pink—
How to choose the best of them,
Leaving out the rest of them,
That is hard, I think.

Poppy with its pepper-pots,
Polyanthus, Pea—
Though I wouldn’t slight the rest,
Isn’t Pansy quite the best,
Quite the best for P?

Black and brown and velvety,
Purple, yellow, red;
Loved by people big and small,
All who plant and dig at all
In a garden bed.

The Queen of the Meadow Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

Queen of the Meadow
where small streams are flowing,
What is your kingdom
and whom do you rule?
“Mine are the places
where wet grass is growing,
Mine are the people of marshland and pool.

“Kingfisher-courtiers,
swift-flashing, beautiful,
Dragon-flies, minnows,
are mine one and all;
Little frog-servants who
wait round me, dutiful,
Hop on my errands and come when I call.”

Gentle Queen Meadowsweet,
served with such loyalty,
Have you no crown then,
no jewels to wear?
“Nothing I need
for a sign of my royalty,
Nothing at all but my own fluffy hair!”

The Ragged Robin Fairy

in Alphabet Fairies

In wet marshy meadows
A tattered piper strays—
Ragged, ragged Robin;
On thin reeds he plays.

He asks for no payment;
He plays, for delight,
A tune for the fairies
To dance to, at night.

They nod and they whisper,
And say, looking wise,
“A princeling is Robin,
For all his disguise!”