My Fairy

Lewis Carroll 1832 (Daresbury) – 1898 (Guildford)



I have a fairy by my side
Which says I must not sleep,
When once in pain I loudly cried
It said "You must not weep"
If, full of mirth, I smile and grin,
It says "You must not laugh"
When once I wished to drink some gin
It said "You must not quaff".

When once a meal I wished to taste
It said "You must not bite"
When to the wars I went in haste
It said "You must not fight".

"What may I do?" at length I cried,
Tired of the painful task.
The fairy quietly replied,
And said "You must not ask".

Moral: "You mustn't."

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

33 sec read
174

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCD EFEF AGAG X
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 523
Words 112
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 4, 4, 1

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. more…

All Lewis Carroll poems | Lewis Carroll Books

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