“The Fairies’ Fright” [poem for children, by Eva Oakley]

[Editor: This poem for children, by Eva Oakley, was published in Willie Wagtail, Two Little Romances and Other Verses (1945).]

“The Fairies’ Fright”

The Fairy lights went on one night,
And made the whole place look so bright;
Then, lots of little Fairies tittered,
While, on their frocks, the spangles glittered.
And then the Fairy Princes gay
Came in, a visit short to pay:
The time then passed so quickly by,
Until the dawn came — “Me, oh, my!”
The Fairies got an awful shock;
They should have left at twelve o’clock:
They knew not what to do, I ween,
For, in the doorway, stood their Queen.
She said, “Come home, you naughty things,
Before the Witch comes out and sings,
For she would turn you into mice,
And puss would eat you in a trice.”

Source:
Eva Oakley, Willie Wagtail, Two Little Romances and Other Verses, Melbourne: Austral Printing & Publishing Company, [1950], p. 12

Editor’s notes:
gay = happy, joyous, carefree; well-decorated, bright, attractive (in modern times it may especially refer to a homosexual, especially a male homosexual; can also refer to something which is no good, pathetic, useless)

puss = a cat (especially used as an affectionate term, or as a form of address to a cat, e.g. “Come here, puss”)

spangle = a small glittering or shiny item, particle, or object; a small thin flat piece of glittering material (often metal or plastic), especially used to sew onto clothing in large numbers for decorative purposes; a sequin; to decorate something with spangles, to bespangle

ween = believe, suppose, think