Book Of Fairies: an Anthology of Paintings & Poetry

This title features beautiful works of art specially selected to accompany delightful pieces of verse and prose. It includes classic poetry by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Spencer, Tennyson, and Milton, amongst others, as well as anonymous rhymes, folk songs and fairy lore passed down through the centuries. The chapters include Famous Fairies; Fairy Tricks and Good Turns; Fairy Possessions, Feasts and Sports; Fairy Homes; and Fairy Lovers. It is a book that celebrates these elusive creatures, with poetry and tales of their exploits, and evocative pictures which capture their entrancing, fragile charm. It is a beautiful gift anthology to keep or give away. In folklore and tales fairies come in many forms: ethereal queens, beautiful enchantresses; house fairies and woodland sprites, the tiny spirits of flowers and trees; mischievous pixies; elves and nymphs. In whatever form they appear to those who believe in them, fairies are always mysterious, magical and secretive. They live in a curious half-world, which exists in the mists just beyond human perception but is always rooted in nature.In art and literature fairies often appear to the innocent or the lost, to children or questing knights, and they can be found at twilight in woodland glades, inside fairy rings, or on deserted moonlit beaches. This book brings together classic works of art, and much-loved and quoted poetry and prose, to celebrate these elusive creatures and create a celebration of the land of faerie and its inhabitants.