There Are Fairies

Elfins of the Autumn night,     Gather! gather! work's to do:     Th re's the toadstool, plump and white,     To be lifted into view:     And the ghost-flower, like a light,     To be dight,     And washed white with moon and dew;     While the frog,     From the bog,     Watchmans us with"All is right."     Ouphes, come help the spider spin,     Stretch his webs for mist and moon;     Rim with rounded rain, or, thin,     Curve into a frosty lune:     Lift the mushroom's rosy chin,     Help it win     Through the leaves that lie aboon;     While the cricket     In the thicket     Makes its fairy fiddle din.     "Lift the Mushroom's rosy chin."     Brim the lichen-cups with rain;     Blow to feather the goldenrods;     Help the touchmenots, a-strain     To explode their ripened pods,     Sow their pattering seed again;     Help to stain     Every freckled flower that nods;     While with glee,     In its tree,     Chants the owl its wild refrain.     Drop the acorn in its place;     Split and spill the chestnuts' burrs;     Trail the weeds with pixy lace     Of the moony gossamers;     And with tricksy colors trace     Form and face     Of each leaf the wildwood stirs;     While the fox,     'Mid the rocks,     Barks, or times with ours his pace.     Elfin, ouphe, and gnarly gnome,     Ye who house the humble-bee,     Ride the slow snail to its home,     Wrap the worm up silkenly;     Ye who guard the wild bees' comb,     And the dome     Of the hornets in the tree,     Hear the call     One and all     Gather! gather, Autumn's come!