Excerpt

Excerpt from Ballads and Lyrics of Old France, with Other Poems, by Unknown Author

IN light of sunrise and sunsetting,
The long days lingered, in forgetting
That ever passion, keen to hold
What may not tarry, was of old,
In lands beyond the weary wold;
Beyond the bitter stream whose flood
Runs red waist-high with slain men’s blood.
Was beauty once a thing that died?
Was pleasure never satisfied?
Was rest still broken by the vain
Desire of action, bringing pain,
To die in languid rest again?
All this was quite forgotten there,
Where never winter chilled the year,
Nor spring brought promise unfulfilled,
Nor, with the eager summer killed,
The languid days drooped autumnwards.
So magical a season guards
The constant prime of a cool June;
So slumbrous is the river’s tune,
That knows no thunder of heavy rains,
Nor ever in the summer wanes,
Like waters of the summer time
In lands far from the Fairy clime.

Yea, there the Fairy maids are kind,
With nothing of the changeful mind
Of maidens in the days that were;
And if no laughter fills the air
With sound of silver murmurings,
And if no prayer of passion brings
A love nigh dead to life again,
Yet sighs more subtly sweet remain,
And smiles that never satiate,
And loves that fear scarce any fate.
Alas, no words can bring the bloom
Of Fairy Land; the faint perfume,
The sweet low light, the magic air,
To eyes of who has not been there:
Alas, no words, nor any spell
Can lull the eyes that know too well,
The lost fair world of Fairy Land.

Ah, would that I had never been
The lover of the Fairy Queen!
Or would that through the sleepy town,
The grey old place of Ercildoune,
And all along the little street,
The soft fall of the white deer’s feet
Came, with the mystical command
That I must back to Fairy Land!

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Explanation

This excerpt from Ballads and Lyrics of Old France, with Other Poems (attributed to an unknown author but likely influenced by medieval and Romantic traditions) is a lyrical meditation on Fairy Land—a mythical, timeless realm of eternal beauty, unfulfilled longing, and melancholic nostalgia. The poem blends Celtic folklore, medieval balladry, and Romantic idealism, evoking a lost paradise that exists beyond mortal suffering yet remains tantalizingly out of reach. Below is a detailed breakdown of the text, its themes, literary devices, and significance, with a focus on close reading.

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Context & Source

The poem belongs to a tradition of medieval and Romantic ballads that idealize fairy realms as places of both enchantment and peril. It echoes themes found in:

• Celtic mythology (e.g., the Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth).
• Arthurian legend (e.g., the Otherworld, where time moves differently).
• Scottish border ballads (e.g., Thomas the Rhymer, a poet lured to Fairy Land by the Queen—note the reference to Ercildoune, the town associated with Thomas).
• 19th-century Romanticism (e.g., Keats’ La Belle Dame sans Merci, which also explores fatal fairy love).

The speaker is likely a mortal who has glimpsed Fairy Land but is now exiled, left with unbearable memory and longing.

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Themes

1. The Illusion of Timelessness vs. Mortal Transience

   • Fairy Land is a realm where "never winter chilled the year" and time exists in a "constant prime of a cool June"—a stark contrast to the mortal world, where seasons decay and passion fades.
   • The mortal world is defined by cyclical suffering: "Was beauty once a thing that died? / Was pleasure never satisfied?" Human existence is marked by unfulfilled desire, pain, and inevitable loss, while Fairy Land offers an escape from these realities.

2. The Paradox of Fairy Love

   • The Fairy maids are kind but emotionally static—their love is eternal yet lacks human passion ("no laughter fills the air," "no prayer of passion").
   • Their affection is subtle and unchanging ("sighs more subtly sweet remain, / And smiles that never satiate"), suggesting a love that is beautiful but ultimately hollow—it cannot die, but it also cannot truly live.
   • The speaker’s lament ("Ah, would that I had never been / The lover of the Fairy Queen!") reveals the curse of fairy love: it is intoxicating but destroys the lover’s ability to return to mortal life.

3. The Impossibility of Reclaiming Paradise

   • The poem emphasizes that Fairy Land cannot be described or revisited:
     • "Alas, no words can bring the bloom / Of Fairy Land"
     • "The lost fair world of Fairy Land" (note the alliteration on "lost" and "fair," emphasizing irrecoverable beauty).
   • The speaker yearns for a summons ("the mystical command / That I must back to Fairy Land!") but knows it will never come—memory is both a blessing and a torment.

4. The Supernatural as Both Alluring and Dangerous

   • Fairy Land is a seductive trap: its beauty is magical but inhuman ("the magic air").
   • The "bitter stream whose flood / Runs red waist-high with slain men’s blood" suggests that many have died trying to reach or escape this realm (a common motif in fairy lore, where mortals who eat fairy food or linger too long are doomed).

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Literary Devices & Stylistic Analysis

1. Imagery & Sensory Language

   • Visual: "light of sunrise and sunsetting" (eternal twilight), "the sweet low light" (soft, dreamlike glow).
   • Auditory: "the river’s tune" (soothing, hypnotic), "silver murmurings" (whispers of fairy speech).
   • Tactile/Olfactory: "the faint perfume" (elusive, fleeting beauty).
   • These create a synaesthetic (multi-sensory) experience, immersing the reader in Fairy Land’s ethereal yet tangible allure.

2. Contrast & Juxtaposition

   • Mortal World (harsh, cyclical, painful):
     • "winter chilled the year"
     • "spring brought promise unfulfilled"
     • "desire of action, bringing pain"
   • Fairy Land (static, perfect, but emotionally sterile):
     • "constant prime of a cool June"
     • "no thunder of heavy rains"
     • "loves that fear scarce any fate"
   • The contrast underscores the impossibility of reconciling human passion with fairy perfection.

3. Repetition & Refrain

   • "Alas, no words..." (twice) – emphasizes the ineffability of Fairy Land.
   • "Was...?" (anaphora in the first stanza) – rhetorical questions that mourn mortal limitations.
   • "Ah, would that..." – expresses regret and longing.

4. Symbolism

   • The River:
     • In Fairy Land: "slumbrous... knows no thunder" (peaceful, unchanging).
     • In the mortal world: "bitter stream... red with slain men’s blood" (violence, loss).
   • Seasons:
     • Fairy Land has no winter or autumn (no decay).
     • Mortal life is bound by time’s cruel progression.
   • The White Deer:
     • A messenger from the Otherworld (in Celtic myth, white animals often signal supernatural intervention).
     • Its "soft fall" suggests a ghostly, unattainable summons.

5. Tone & Mood

   • Melancholic & Nostalgic: The speaker is haunted by memory.
   • Yearning & Resigned: There is no hope of return, only regret ("would that I had never been").
   • Dreamlike & Hypnotic: The rhythm and imagery lull the reader into Fairy Land’s spell, mirroring the speaker’s enchantment.

6. Meter & Rhyme

   • The poem uses a ballad-like structure (alternating tetrameter and trimeter, ABCB rhyme scheme), giving it a musical, incantatory quality—fitting for a tale of fairy enchantment.
   • The rhythm mimics a lullaby, reinforcing the hypnotic pull of Fairy Land.

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Significance & Interpretation

1. The Fairy Lover as a Metaphor for Art & Idealism

   • Fairy Land can be read as a symbol for the artistic or romantic ideal—something beautiful but impossible to sustain in reality.
   • The speaker’s curse is that of the Romantic poet: once you’ve glimpsed perfection (in art, love, or imagination), the mundane world becomes unbearable.

2. The Danger of Escapism

   • The poem warns against the seduction of fantasy. Fairy Land is paradise, but it is also a prison—those who go there lose their humanity.
   • The speaker’s regret suggests that some knowledge is destructive (like Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden).

3. The Unreliable Nature of Memory & Desire

   • The speaker idealizes Fairy Land, but the poem hints that memory distorts reality.
   • The absence of laughter, prayer, or passion in Fairy Land suggests that human emotion is messy but vital—something the fairy realm lacks.

4. Connection to Thomas the Rhymer Legend

   • The reference to Ercildoune (a real Scottish town linked to the legend of Thomas the Rhymer, a poet taken to Fairy Land by the Queen) ties the poem to oral tradition.
   • Like Thomas, the speaker is doomed to long for a world he can never truly inhabit again.

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Key Lines Explained

1. "In lands beyond the weary wold; / Beyond the bitter stream whose flood / Runs red waist-high with slain men’s blood."

   • The "weary wold" (old word for forest/wilderness) symbolizes the arduous journey to the supernatural.
   • The bloody stream is a threshold—many have died trying to cross into (or escape) Fairy Land.

2. "Was beauty once a thing that died? / Was pleasure never satisfied?"

   • These rhetorical questions highlight the tragedy of mortal existence: beauty fades, desire is endless, and rest is always disrupted.

3. "So magical a season guards / The constant prime of a cool June;"

   • Fairy Land is frozen in perfection—no growth, no decay, just eternal, sterile beauty.

4. "Alas, no words can bring the bloom / Of Fairy Land; the faint perfume..."

   • The ineffability of the sublime—some experiences transcend language.

5. "Ah, would that I had never been / The lover of the Fairy Queen!"

   • The speaker’s regret is double-edged: he wishes he’d never known Fairy Land, yet he craves it still.

6. "The soft fall of the white deer’s feet / Came, with the mystical command..."

   • The white deer is a herald of the supernatural, but its arrival is hypothetical—the speaker wishes for a sign that will never come.

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Conclusion: Why This Poem Endures

This excerpt captures the universal human longing for a lost paradise—whether it’s youth, love, or artistic inspiration. The Fairy Queen’s lover is a tragic figure, caught between two worlds but belonging to neither. The poem’s beauty lies in its melancholy: it doesn’t offer answers, only haunting questions about desire, time, and the cost of immortality.

In the tradition of Romantic and medieval ballads, it serves as a warning and a lament—a reminder that some doors, once opened, can never be closed again. The speaker’s curse is knowledge: he has seen what cannot be kept, and now must live with the memory.

Would you like a deeper dive into any specific aspect, such as comparisons to other fairy ballads or the historical context of Ercildoune?