Longlegs -- he yelled 'Coo-ee!' And all across the combe Shrill and shrill it rang - rang through The clear green gloom. Fairies there were a-spinning, And a white tree-maid Lifted her eyes, and listened In her rain-sweet glade. Bunnie to bunnie stamped; old Wat Chin-deep in bracken sate; A throstle piped, "I'm by, I'm by!" Clear to his timid mate. And there was Longlegs straddling, And hearkening was he, To distant Echo thrilling back A thin 'Coo-ee!'
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Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], page 131.
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Longlegs", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 6. Witches and Fairies, no. 1, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
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Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-06-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 77