Queen Mab
A little fairy comes at night,Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,With silver spots upon her wings,And from the moon she flutters down.She has a little silver wand,And when a good child goes to bed,She waves her wand from right to left,And makes a circle round its head.And then it dreams of pleasant things,Of fountains filled with fairy fish,And trees that bear delicious fruit,And bow their branches at a wish:Of arbours filled with dainty scentsFrom lovely flowers that never fade;Bright flies that glitter in the sun,And glow-worms shining in the shade.
A little fairy comes at night,Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,With silver spots upon her wings,And from the moon she flutters down.She has a little silver wand,And when a good child goes to bed,She waves her wand from right to left,And makes a circle round its head.And then it dreams of pleasant things,Of fountains filled with fairy fish,And trees that bear delicious fruit,And bow their branches at a wish:Of arbours filled with dainty scentsFrom lovely flowers that never fade;Bright flies that glitter in the sun,And glow-worms shining in the shade.
A little fairy comes at night,Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,With silver spots upon her wings,And from the moon she flutters down.
A little fairy comes at night,
Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,
With silver spots upon her wings,
And from the moon she flutters down.
She has a little silver wand,And when a good child goes to bed,She waves her wand from right to left,And makes a circle round its head.
She has a little silver wand,
And when a good child goes to bed,
She waves her wand from right to left,
And makes a circle round its head.
And then it dreams of pleasant things,Of fountains filled with fairy fish,And trees that bear delicious fruit,And bow their branches at a wish:
And then it dreams of pleasant things,
Of fountains filled with fairy fish,
And trees that bear delicious fruit,
And bow their branches at a wish:
Of arbours filled with dainty scentsFrom lovely flowers that never fade;Bright flies that glitter in the sun,And glow-worms shining in the shade.
Of arbours filled with dainty scents
From lovely flowers that never fade;
Bright flies that glitter in the sun,
And glow-worms shining in the shade.
And talking birds with gifted tongues,For singing songs and telling tales,And pretty dwarfs to show the wayThrough fairy hills and fairy dales.But when a bad child goes to bed,From left to right she weaves her ringsAnd then it dreams all through the nightOf only ugly horrid things.Then lions come with glaring eyes,And tigers growl, a dreadful noise,And ogres draw their cruel knives,To shed the blood of girls and boys.
And talking birds with gifted tongues,For singing songs and telling tales,And pretty dwarfs to show the wayThrough fairy hills and fairy dales.But when a bad child goes to bed,From left to right she weaves her ringsAnd then it dreams all through the nightOf only ugly horrid things.Then lions come with glaring eyes,And tigers growl, a dreadful noise,And ogres draw their cruel knives,To shed the blood of girls and boys.
And talking birds with gifted tongues,For singing songs and telling tales,And pretty dwarfs to show the wayThrough fairy hills and fairy dales.
And talking birds with gifted tongues,
For singing songs and telling tales,
And pretty dwarfs to show the way
Through fairy hills and fairy dales.
But when a bad child goes to bed,From left to right she weaves her ringsAnd then it dreams all through the nightOf only ugly horrid things.
But when a bad child goes to bed,
From left to right she weaves her rings
And then it dreams all through the night
Of only ugly horrid things.
Then lions come with glaring eyes,And tigers growl, a dreadful noise,And ogres draw their cruel knives,To shed the blood of girls and boys.
Then lions come with glaring eyes,
And tigers growl, a dreadful noise,
And ogres draw their cruel knives,
To shed the blood of girls and boys.
Then stormy waves rush on to drown,Or raging flames come scorching round,Fierce dragons hover in the air,And serpents crawl along the ground.Then wicked children wake and weep,And wish the long black gloom away;But good ones love the dark, and findThe night as pleasant as the day.
Then stormy waves rush on to drown,Or raging flames come scorching round,Fierce dragons hover in the air,And serpents crawl along the ground.Then wicked children wake and weep,And wish the long black gloom away;But good ones love the dark, and findThe night as pleasant as the day.
Then stormy waves rush on to drown,Or raging flames come scorching round,Fierce dragons hover in the air,And serpents crawl along the ground.
Then stormy waves rush on to drown,
Or raging flames come scorching round,
Fierce dragons hover in the air,
And serpents crawl along the ground.
Then wicked children wake and weep,And wish the long black gloom away;But good ones love the dark, and findThe night as pleasant as the day.
Then wicked children wake and weep,
And wish the long black gloom away;
But good ones love the dark, and find
The night as pleasant as the day.
When the song was finished Oberon and Titania arose on their throne and faint strains of music were heard in the air; for a moment the whole place sparkled with light and colour, and then all the fairies had gone in a flash to their distant places, and nothing but a faint circle of darker grass showed where the great assembly had been. Away under a shady tree Nick Bottom and his companions were fast asleep, and when they awakened again they must have puzzled over what they had seen and heard, and which no doubt they believed that they had only dreamed. But we know better.