"Berries", by Walter de la Mare

[med_cat]

(reposted from David Malcomson, in the Poets Illustrated FB group)

There was an old woman
        Went blackberry picking
    Along the hedges
        From Weep to Wicking. -
    Half a pottle-
        No more she had got,
    When out steps a Fairy
        From her green grot;
    And says, 'Well, Jill,
        Would 'ee pick ee mo?'
    And Jill, she curtseys,
        And looks just so.
    Be off,' says the Fairy,
        'As quick as you can,
    Over the meadows
        To the little green lane
    That dips to the hayfields
        Of Farmer Grimes:
    I've berried those hedges
        A score of times;
    Bushel on bushel
        I'll promise'ee, Jill,
    This side of supper
        If'ee pick with a will.'
    She glints very bright,
        And speaks her fair;
    Then lo, and behold!
        She had faded in air.

    Be sure Old Goodie
        She trots betimes
    Over the meadows
        To Farmer Grimes.
    And never was queen
        With jewelry rich
    As those same hedges
        From twig to ditch;
    Like Dutchmen's coffers,
        Fruit, thorn, and flower -
    They shone like William
        And Mary's bower.
    And be sure Old Goodie
        Went back to Weep,
    So tired with her basket
        She scarce could creep.

    When she comes in the dusk
        To her cottage door,
    There's Towser wagging
        As never before,
    To see his Missus
        So glad to be
    Come from her fruit-picking
        Back to he.
    As soon as next morning
        Dawn was grey,
    The pot on the hob
        Was simmering away;
    And all in a stew
        And a hugger-mugger
    Towser and Jill
        A-boiling of sugar,
    And the dark clear fruit
        That from Faerie came,
    For syrup and jelly
        And blackberry jam.

    Twelve jolly gallipots
        Jill put by;
    And one little teeny one,
        One inch high;
    And that she's hidden
        A good thumb deep,
    Half way over
        From Wicking to Weep.

Comments

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Very seasonable; thank you.

[med_cat]

Pleased you enjoyed it; I came across it on FB and had to share :)