In this fairy land of light

Nils Blommer

"In this fairy land of light
No mortal ere has been
And the dreadful grandeur of this sight
By them hath not been seen.

T'would strike them shuddering to the earth
Like th eflash from a thunder cloud
It would quench their light and joyous mirth
And fit them for the shroud.

The rising of our palaces
Like visions of the deep
And the glory of their structure
No mortal voice can speak.

The music of our songs
And our mighty trumpets' swell
And the sounding of our silver harps
No mortal tongue can tell."

Brian Froud

These words were penned by a 13-year-old Charlotte Bronte in 1829. Makes me want to give up trying to write anything ever again...or at least, it appears in a story she wrote, "The Search After Happiness," she may have been quoting from a well-known poem. Anyway, I love that the fairy world is painted as awesome and even dangerous, rather than cute and saccharine.