Cherry Fairies of Summer...

Cherry-Time

Cherries of the night are riper

Than the cherries pluckt at noon 

Gather to your fairy piper 

When he pipes his magic tune: 

Merry, merry, 

Take a cherry; 

Mine are sounder, 

Mine are rounder, 

Mine are sweeter 

For the eater

Under the moon. 

And you’ll be fairies soon. 

In the cherry pluckt at night, 

With the dew of summer swelling, 

There’s a juice of pure delight, 

Cool, dark, sweet, divinely smelling. 

Merry, merry, 

Take a cherry; 

Mine are sounder, 

Mine are rounder, 

Mine are sweeter 

For the eater 

In the moonlight. 

And you’ll be fairies quite. 

When I sound the fairy call, 

Gather here in silent meeting, 

Chin to knee on the orchard wall, 

Cooled with dew and cherries eating. 

Merry, merry, 

Take a cherry; 

Mine are sounder, 

Mine are rounder, 

Mine are sweeter. 

For the eater 

When the dews fall.

And you’ll be fairies all. 

Robert Graves