If on a summer's evening you should happen to see
A procession, silhouetted by the dying sun,
Making its way along the ridge, riders, tall and erect
and stranger shapes that caper by their side:
Do not be alarmed, but say to your grandchildren
That you saw the glory of Faery, as it passed away.
And if one green day in the woods you should happen to hear
A music, faint and wild, that wrenches your heart,
Speaking of things that are lost and will not come again,
Of all the beauties that will not be remembered:
Do not be alarmed, but keep in your heart while you live
That you heard the glory of Faery, when it passed away.
But if, on some overgrown track, you should happen to meet
(Fortunate misfortune) our departing ride
Turn aside and do not look at the lords and ladies,
At the silks and palfreys, and stop your ears to our song:
Do not be alarmed, but we would not have you haunted
By the glory of Faery, as it passes away.