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Muse and Mint

Chapter 18: ELFIN FACES
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About This Book

A varied collection of short lyrical poems that observes nature and rural life, using seasonal imagery—sap, snow, rivers, cherries—and simple domestic scenes to reflect on change, beauty, and small joys. Sections shift between fireside recollections, sentimental and philosophical meditations, homiletic and religious pieces, and light humor, blending devotional songlike verses with moral aphorisms and affectionate memory. The voice moves between wistful and buoyant moods, finding consolation and ethical insight in commonplace experiences, while concise stanzas and vivid images emphasize mood and moral reflection rather than a continuous narrative.

ELFIN FACES

Round me gather Rosycheeks,
Clean and fresh as peaches,
Smiling daughters of the Greeks,
Golden-tongued with speeches.
“Papa, tell your little girls
All about the fairies!”
Bless my soul! they all had curls
And Cupid-lips like cherries.
Yes, indeed, and starry eyes
And merry little dimples
Something like a sly surprise
Hid in cunning wimples.
Yes, and twinkling baby-feet
Dancing midst the flowers,
Gathering the honey sweet
Through the morning hours.
But at twilight is the time
Each becomes a brownie,
Murmuring a sleepy rhyme,
Growing soft and downy
Till—say, I declare there springs
Up from either shoulder
Fluffy little angel-wings
That at first enfold her,—

Then I have to rub my eyes
All alert and scarey,
For right out the window flies
Every single fairy
And I’m left there all alone,
Peering in the corners.

Little elfin-faces gone
Leave behind them mourners.