I would like to share with you a series of poems that relate to a very significant period in my life where I was actively searching for a higher meaning or purpose to everything. I was quite young (in my early 20’s) and this was during the same period of time as my first major relationship – I met someone, we became engaged to be married, then very sadly he lost his brother to mental illness. Our relationship began to break down and eventually ended without us ever being married.
This is a set of three poems, the first one is a favourite of mine from a book my Mother gave me when I was a child called “The Little World of Elves and Fairies – An Anthology of Verse” which is a collection of very beautiful poetry all about Elves and Fairies and other such folks.
The Road to Fairyland
(by Ernest Thompson Seaton)
Do you seek the road to Fairyland?
I’ll tell you; it’s easy, quite.
Wait ‘til a yellow moon gets up
O’er purple seas by night,
And guilds a shining pathway
That is sparkling diamond bright.
Then, if no evil power be nigh
To thwart you, out of spite,
And if you know the very words
To cast a spell of might,
You get upon a thistledown,
And, if the breeze is right,
You sail away to Fairyland
Along this track of light.
My interpretation of this poem involved the thought that "Fairyland" was not an actual place, but a state of mind - happiness - and the path or "road" to our happiness, with all of the obstacles we could possibly face in life, has been depicted here metaphorically by the almost eccentric list of directions detailed within this poem.
The following two poems are my own work in response to the original poem by Ernest Thompson Seaton. I’m unsure if this can still be classed as collaborative poetry as I didn’t actually collaborate WITH Mr Seaton, I merely wrote two poems that follow on from the original ‘story’ contained in his work, turning it into MY ‘story’. (I hope this makes sense!)
My Path to Fairyland
Yes. I seek the road to Fairyland
And I have found the beginning true.
My yellow moon has risen
O’er purple seas by night,
My shining pathway discovered
Sparkling diamond bright.
Yet evil power may be nigh
To thwart me, but is it spite?
The words to cast a spell of might
Are yet to come to me.
My thistledown is yet to bloom
And the breeze is not quite right.
I so wish to sail to Fairyland
Along this undiscovered track of light.
No Fairyland
I did seek the road to Fairyland
And I found the beginning true.
My yellow moon did rise
O’er purple seas by night
But showed the wrong pathway,
Sparkling, blinding bright.
The path I chose held evil power
Which thwart me out of spite,
I did not know of any words
To cast a spell of might.
I had no power, I did not belong,
I knew the end was near,
I was not the one, my fight was done,
And ended with a tear.
In the years that followed, I strayed a great deal from my "path" and even gave up the search for "Fairyland" for a time.
I am pleased to say that today, as I read back over my work, without even realising it I have returned to the right "path" and my "Fairyland" is very real and does exist. I guess that's part of what "Fairyland" is - when something is so right that you don't even think about the possibility of it being wrong.
I may even be so inspired as to write a third poem to represent where I am now and how my future looks from this point in my life!
Thank you very much for reading.
