Once on a time I used to dream
— Strange spirits moved about my way,
And I might catch a vagrant gleam,
— A glint of pixy or of fay;
Their lives were mingled with my own,
— So far they roamed, so near they drew;
And when I from a child had grown,
— I woke — and found my dream was true.

For one is clad in coat of fur,
— And one is decked with feathers gay;
Another, wiser, will prefer
— A sober suit of Quaker gray:
This one's your servant from his birth,
— And that a Princess you must please,
And this one loves to wake your mirth,
— And that one likes to share your ease.

O gracious creatures, tiny souls!
— You seem so near, so far away,
Yet while the cloudland round us rolls,
— We love you better every day.