The Song Of The Elderberry Fairy

Tread quietly:

O people, hush!

-For don't you see

A spotted thrush,

One thrush, or two,

Or even three

In every laden elder-tree?

"These berries do us no harm, though they don't taste very nice.
Country people make wine from them; and boys make whistles  from elder stems."-C.M.B.

They pull and lug,

They flap and push,

They peck and tug

To strip the bush;

They have forsaken

Snail and slug;

Unseen I watch them, safe and snug!

"The Song Of The Elderberry Fairy"

Poem and Illustration by

Cecily Mary Barker

(1895-1973)

English artist and poetess