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by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)

The song of the Fairy King
Language: English 
Bright Queen of women, oh, come away,
Oh, come to my kingdom strange to see:
Where tresses flow with a gentle glow;
And white as snow is the fair body.
Beneath the silky curtains of arching ebon 'brows,
Soft eyes of sunny azure the heart enthral,
A speech of magic songs to each rosy mouth belongs,
And sorrowful sighing can ne'er befall.

Oh bright are the blooms of thine own Innisfail
And green is her garland around the West;
But brighter flowers and greener bowers
Shall all be ours in that country blest.
Or can her streams compare to the runnels rich and rare
Of slow yellow honey and swift red wine,
That softly slip to the longing lip
With magic flow through that land of mine?

We roam the earth in its grief and mirth,
But move unseen of all therein;
For before their gaze there hangs the haze,
The heavy haze of their mortal sin.
But oh! our age it wastes not; for our beauty tastes not
Of Evil's tempting apple and droops and dies.
Cold death shall slay us never but for ever and forever
Love's stainless ardours shall illume our eyes.

Then Queen of women, oh come away,
Far, far away to my fairy throne,
To my realm of rest in the magic West,
Where sin and sorrow are all unknown.

Text Authorship:

  • by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "The song of the Fairy King", op. 76 no. 23, published 1901 [voice and piano], from Songs of Erin, no. 23, London, Boosey [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson

This text was added to the website: 2016-09-13
Line count: 28
Word count: 225

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