Little Princess Mee Lovely was she As in elven-song is told: She had pearls in hair All threaded fair; Of gossamer shot with gold Was her kerchief made, And a silver braid Of stars above her throat. Of moth-web light All moonlit-white She wore a woven coat, And round her kirtle Was bound a girdle Sewn with diamond dew.
She walked by day Under mantle grey And hood of clouded blue; But she went by night All glittering bright Under the starlit sky, And her slippers frail Of fishes' mail Flashed as she went by To her dancing-pool, And on mirror cool Of windless water played. As a mist of light In whirling flight A glint like glass she made Wherever her feet Of silver fleet Flicked the dancing-floor.
Shee was as light As Mee, and as bright; But Shee was, strange to tell, Hanging down With starry crown Into a bottomless well! Her gleaming eyes In great surprise Looked upon to the eyes of Mee: A marvellous thing, Head-down to swing Above a starry sea!
Only their feet Could ever meet; For where the ways might lie To find a land Where they do not stand But hang down in the sky No one could tell Nor learn in spell In all the elven-lore.
So still on her own An elf alone Dancing as before With pearls in hair And kirtle fair And slippers frail Of fishes' mail went Mee: Of fishes' mail And slippers frail And kirtle fair With pearls in hair went Shee!