"I Would I Were a Fairy" (1841)
or
(Bright Thoughts for Dark Hours)
Written by
R. F. Houseman
Composed and dedicated to
Miss Euphemia Patton
of Phila.
by her friend
Miss Augusta Browne
Professor of Music

New York, NY: C. G. Christman, 404 Pearl St.
Lith. of G. Endicott
G. Ackerman, Engraver
[Source: 044/013@LoC]

1. I would I were a fairy as light as falling snows,
To do what e’er my fancy bade, to wander where I choose;—
I’d visit many a pleasant spot, a merry life I’d lead
With all of bright and beautiful to serve me at my need,
I’d never give a single thought to misery or care,
My heart should have the gladness of a wild bird in the air;
And if perchance a tempest should gather in the sky,
I’d crouch beneath a lilybell until the cloud pass’d by.

2. The violet, the cowslip, the little warbling bee,
That cannot for his life withhold the music of his glee,
The butterfly, that silent thing of many gorgeous dyes,
The denizen of garden realms a pilgrim of the skies.
The starry twinkling glowworm, that, like a drop of dew
Sheds faintly on the trembling grass a line of emerald hue.
The daisy and the daffodil, the small gem on the lea,
Of these I’d make my playmates and these my friends should be.

3. I’d hie me to the green wood, I’d sit me down and sing,
Beneath the quiet curtain of the Nightingale’s soft wing!
My pillow should be rose leaves, without a single thorn,
And there I’d chaunt my roundelay, until the blush of morn,
The world is full of sorrows on every side I see,
Shadow instead of sunlight, and grief instead of glee,
Or if I hear the trumpet voice, of pleasure cleave the sky,
The mournful echo, Sadness is certain to reply.