✦ The Poem ✦
A Fairy Went A-Marketing
by Rose Fyleman, from Fairies and Chimneys (1918). Public domain in the United States.
A fairy went a-marketing— She bought a little fish; She put it in a crystal bowl Upon a golden dish. An hour she sat in wonderment And watched its silver gleam, And then she gently took it up And slipped it in a stream.
A fairy went a-marketing— She bought a coloured bird; It sang the sweetest, shrillest song That ever she had heard. She sat beside its painted cage And listened half the day, And then she opened wide the door And let it fly away.
A fairy went a-marketing— She bought a winter gown All stitched about with gossamer And lined with thistledown. She wore it all the afternoon With prancing and delight, Then gave it to a little frog To keep him warm at night.
A fairy went a-marketing— She bought a gentle mouse To take her tiny messages, To keep her tiny house. All day she kept its busy feet Pit-patting to and fro, And then she kissed its silken ears, Thanked it, and let it go.