Stevie Smith - Sweet Prairies Of Anarchy

When Stevie Smith hits, she strikes to the heart’s core. She can sometimes take your breath away with a sudden jet of pain or rage spurting up from among the demure ballads and ironical nursery rhymes.



The Forlorn Sea

Our Princess married
A fairy King,
It was a sensational
Wedding.

Now they live in a palace
Of porphyry,
Far, far away,
By the forlorn sea.

Sometimes people visit them,
Last week they invited me;
This is how I can tell you,
They live by a forlorn sea.

(They said: Here’s a magic carpet,
Come on this,
And when you arrive
We will give you a big kiss.)

I play in the palace garden,
I climb the sycamore tree,
Sometimes I swim
In the forlorn sea.

The King and the Princess are shadowy,
Yet beautiful,
They are waited on by white cats,
Who are dutiful.

It is like a dream
When they kiss and cuddle me,
But I like it, I like it
I do not wish to break free.

So I eat all that they give me
Because I have read
If you eat fairy food
You’ll never wake up in your own bed,

But will go on living,
As has happened to me,
Far, far away
By a forlon sea.

Stevie Smith