[XXXVII]
 
If mortal tread that day, that dawn,
Near Cronest Mountain, through Anster Wood's  trees,
Pressing damp footprints on dew-washed lawn,
Chanced to wander with the waking breeze,
No trace of revel or of Elfin Court
Slowed such step or stayed the eye.
Humans see what humans ought,
Blind to things Fay, and deaf to Fay cry.
Unless, of course, Elves otherwise choose,
For play - or for guidance, like light from above.
They have nothing to fear and less to lose,
As long as they do it not for love;
As that Victor Ouph (no Culprit now)
Had chosen once his breath to share
With a tender mortal as he stroked her brow,
As he sighed in her ear, as he tousled her hair!
 
 
[XXXVIII]
 
But many moons silvered the lea,
After the night of that Ouph's return,
Before once again the Fairies' glee 
Made the forest sing and the fireflies burn. 
For the Trolls of the North had risen to arms,
Mocking the peace of pan-Fairy law,
Trying Fay strength with their Ghouls and grave charms.
The Lily-King answered, and the answer was War. 
 
Grim the battles, bloody the ground,
Thick the air with the hissing sound 
Of streaking arrows and Goblin spite. 
Hark to the howl of hate in the night! 
Valiant elves fight Trollish hordes 
To hold all Faedom for its Fairy lords. 
The blood of a Troll is cold and black, 
And colder still the hearts they lack,
But steelier yet is an Ouph at bay: 
The Trolls are fled, the Fays hold sway. 
 
 
 
[XXXIX]
 
Minstrel Fays and Gods of Light,
Join our solemn throng tonight.
The war is won, the Trolls are fled -
Was it worth these precious dead?
 
These are gone. O play the tune
'Heart's Ease,' - O lest the grieving Moon,
Forgetting Music of the Spheres,
Leave this World to darkling tears!
 
Gods of Light and Minstrel Fays,
Guide these Home with soft, bright praise
Of Fairy lives in splendour led.
Mourn no more these precious dead -
 
They are with the Gods on High.
We beneath their starry sky
Live on, Immortal, spared Death's kiss:
They live on in greater Bliss!
 
 
Thus the noble Elfin Court
Marked the passing of dearest friends:
With sweetest song and saddest thought 
For those far beyond e'en Immortal amends;
With sweetest thought and saddest song,
For  those whose blood the Trolls had spilled:
Ghouls and Trolls, such  fiendish wrong! - 
Fays grow not old, but they can be killed. 
 
But the following night, as is their lore,
From the funeral embers they took a spark,
And now, for the joy of calm after war, 
With it they light Fay halls once dark 
With sombre grief. Glad torches burn, 
The night's ablaze, and the forest rings 
With Elfin glee. Dance me a turn 
Of dreamy delight, then sing as sings 
The exultant lark! Drink the Cup 
Of Comrades carousing in hard-won peace. 
Lo! the Moon!  Look up, Look up! - 
Her silver shining shall surely not cease 
Till Fairies know all depth of joy 
This livelong night, and Love abounds!
List! the Twinned Tunes which never cloy:
Laughter and Music! - such Heavenly sounds! 
 
 
[XL]
 
Deep in the heart of the glittering glade
The King's High Table, of solid gold, 
With Fairy prizes stood proudly arrayed; 
With spoils of wars, both new and old, 
And other show of great Fay worth: 
A felled Dragon's fang, and a Trollish crown, 
And presents giv'n at the Lily-King's birth 
By Sprites of the South (of noble renown, 
And allies e'er with the Ouphs of the Earth); 
A crystal flower by magic grown, 
A Goblin sword of unshattering glass, 
A pearl once dropped by the Morning Star, 
And gems whose rays no star could surpass; 
And not the least, and brought from far, 
Further than Elves are wont to stray, 
To swell this pile of treasures bright 
And purge the guilt of a Culprit Fay, 
A Drop of Lymph and a Spark of Light -
Shooting-star Light and the arched sturgeon's Lymph, 
Offered by an Ouph on his bended knee, 
On his safe return, to the fairest Nymph 
Who ever out-shone the moonlit lea. 
To the Fairy Queen, the King's own wife, 
The Victor Elf had given his spoil: 
Home with honour, and home with his life, 
Surrendered to grace the fruit of his toil.
 
And 'mongst this wealth the feast is spread:
Sweet honeyed meats and fresh, fragrant, bread, 
Silken peach and blood-red wine, 
Juice of the Gods, and fruit divine. 
And round this profusion, in high honour placed, 
Were warriors whom the King had graced
With Knightly favour or Lordship's robe; 
They surrounded that Table like the stars this Globe. 
 
 
[XLI]
 
Battles may rage till break of dawn,
Revels may thrill till dawn of day,
Lovers will ever, to each other drawn, 
Know how to confer 'midst revelry or fray. 
Soft in his ear, and softer in intent,
In tones which she knew his heart would wake, 
The Fairy Queen to her Liege-Lord bent
Her pearly neck, and thus she spake:
'I love Thee, Lord, as I loved Thee then, 
Then, when our hearts were newly met,
So long ago - dost thou remember it yet?
Then, when thy father ruled this Glen 
And, guilty Fays!, we kept our trysts - 
Parental law forgotten quite;
Oh! the kisses we kissed, longing for more Night, 
Deep in the Springtide's secret mists! 
I cleave to thee, King, as I clung in woe, 
When both our Sires fell to the sword 
Of goblins grim. Oh, gently my Lord, 
Pray kiss me now, for my tears still show!' 
 
Salt as the brine in the deep sea churned,
Down her face the bright tears burned.
He kissed them away, that Fairy King,
And happier thoughts those kisses bring:
 
'And as soon as we reached those Fairy years
When, fully grown, we age no more,' 
Continued the Queen, her heart to out-pour, 
'What a wedding we held!  - will e'er our peers
Forget the splendour of that union Spread? 
They have known none like it, no time so sweet, 
Unless it be this, at the Trolls defeat. 
Then, as now, we honoured the dead, 
Then began to rejoice in our time-honoured way.  
On this same table the Treasures' array,
Vied to outglory, in the night, the day:
Fantastic the pleasures of Fairies at play! 
Mere Sennight swift seems to me to have passed, 
Though centuries divide that night from this - 
Ages of nights in which to tryst and kiss! - 
Immortal Love, how long canst Thou Last! 
And no older we than when first we sung 
Those sylvan songs at our Match so fair. 
Dost Thou still recall our favourite Air: 
"In Love Forever, and Forever Young"?
 
But, truly, my Lord, though our bodies don't age,
Time bringeth wisdom with the roll of the years; 
I know Thee, my King! - aye, even thy fears, 
Locked in thy heart, and even the page 
Where deep in thy mind thy secrets are writ; 
Some rare pain racks Thee, O royallest of Fays! -
Though nought's in thy eyes but serenity's rays, 
And Thy face shows all that's for revelry fit. 
Shall the Lily-King in his Queen confide? 
Who better may share that sadd'ning weight,
Thou hold'st in thy heart? O Royal Mate,
Lean on me: I am at thy side.' 
 
[XLII]
 
The Fairy King to his lily-white Fere 
Turned his, ere then, half-turned face;
His answer first, and answer clear, 
Was royally his Magic Bride to embrace, 
With passion the passing years had made 
Stronger yet and deeper still.
A Minstrel Fay in the glittering glade
Saw royal lips as they drank their fill, 
And straight to his Fairy fiddle sprung; 
To the midnight air, he then sweetly played: 
"In Love Forever, and Forever Young!"
  
And then the King, gently taking her hand, 
Quietly his Queen began to address: 
 
'Dear Heart, and Fairest in this land, 
I can love Thee no more, and love Thee no less;
If the golden stars, yea, this very night 
Fled the Welkin, taking the Moon, 
Thou would'st still be my guiding light, 
My song, my delight, and my life's best boon. 
How can my heart  withhold from Thee 
Whate'er my features fail to sign, 
Whate'er our compeers do not see? 
My heart holds much, but my heart is thine! 
 
Behold the Lords and Ladies, dear,
Round us at this Table ranged -
The best of Fays; but, Fairy Fere, 
One of these is sadly changed. 
I knew him as my childhood friend, 
We played together when our lives were green, 
And, when he strayed, I was loathe to send 
My friend to doom - as it might have been. 
But he returned: a purer Elf, 
And as Noble and Comrade he serves me yet -
And as wise Counsel: but to Thyself  
Do I dearly owe a deeper debt. 
And in these wars so lately spent, 
More than once he saved my life. 
I've a trusty friend, as by Heaven sent, 
And yet his heart's with me at strife. 
He loves that Earthly maiden now 
Even more than when their love was new. 
I'd help him if I knew but how - 
But Thou know'st the Law, and Thou know'st it true: 
NEVER may Fairies mortals love. 
No Kingship can this Rule undo: 
'Twas written by the Gods above! 
He has not seen her this year long - 
He obeys my ban, as it must be -
But yet his love remains as strong, 
As even mine, dear heart, for Thee.' 
 
[XLIII]
 
Did she know this, that Fairy Queen,
Long ere the King reached his story's end?
-That hurting his heart, if not his mien, 
Was compassion for his love-stricken friend? 
Was that why she spoke of theirs, 
Their own true love, - to set a scene 
Of love that brook'd no law? She shares
Her lover's heart, so perhaps she did.
And if the King spake unawares? 
Well, her purpose was good, though her practice she hid. 
 
 
[XLIV]
 
Queen Katya of Flame (for such she hight)
Pressed to her heart the Kingly hand
Holding hers - and there with fingers light,
Gently played with his gold wedding band.
' "NEVER," my Lord? - not a word we knew
When feuding kin bade us 'never' meet, 
And nightly we stole, as lovers true, 
To steal more kisses, so forbidden, so sweet! 
" Never,"  to mortals, sounds like Death, 
And to Fays, whose fortune is not to die,
Is Sentence of pain which every breath 
Prolongs. Your "Never"'s  an endless sky,
Black as Trollish heart - no Light
To pierce th' eternal Pitch of Gloom;
"Never"s like adamant prison bars
Tightly enclosing a vasty Room.
"Never"' s a wretch amongst princely words;
"Never," my Lord's, more a word for the Birds!'
 
At this the Fairy King but smiled,
As if indulging a wayward child. 
'All that Thou sayest, as ever, is true -
But, Fairy mine, what can we do!?' 
More quietly yet the Queen then spake,
Telling her Lord  the steps she would take, 
Asking his 'Aye' to what she planned, 
Proposing to unleash in that Fairy Land 
Magic of force by Fays seldom seen.  
Not even Katya, the Fiery Queen,
Woud do such a daring, though noble thing,
Without the consent of the great Fay King. 
He listened, he nodded, he kissed her thrice. 
Watch, Victor Ouph! - Watch the Roll of the Dice!