In the night I heard the sea;

Saw the round moon, white as wool,

Or a bloom in Faerie,

Rise above the hawthorn-tree,

White and wonderful,

Weird and wonderful.

Through the door there came to me

Breezy whispers, fragrant as

Wafts that rock the honey-bee,

Cradled sweet in Arcady,

In the bluebelled grass,

In the rose-strewn grass.

Then I saw them; suddenly;

Three red caps against the moon;—

And three voices whispered me,

"We have come to dance for thee,

Sing for thee a tune,

Sing an elfin tune."

While I slept I heard the three

Whispering round my baby there,

White as moonlit ivory,

In its crib of ebony,

All my joy and care,

All my love and care.

Now I sit here, as you see,

And my heart is all bereft,

Sighing, singing wearily

To this strange thing on my knee,

This wild thing they left,

Changeling that they left.