The Collected Poems of Dora Sigerson Shorter/The Watcher in the Wood

by Dora Sigerson Shorter

THE WATCHER IN THE WOOD

Deep in the wood's recesses cool
I see the fairy dancers glide,
In doth of gold, in gown of green,
My lord and lady side by side.

But who has hung from leaf to leaf,
From flower to flower, a silken twine—
A cloud of grey that holds the dew
In globes of dear enchanted wine?

Or stretches far from branch to branch.
From thorn to thorn, in diamond rain.
Who caught the cup of crystal pure
And hung so fair the shining chain?

'Tis death, the spider, in his net,
Who lures the dancers as they glide,
In cloth of gold, in gown of green,
My lord and lady side by side.