Poem by Edith Nesbit

The Goose-Girl

I WANDERED lonely by the sea,
    As is my daily use,
I saw her drive across the lea
    The gander and the goose.
The gander and the gray, gray goose,
    She drove them all together;
Her cheeks were rose, her gold hair loose,
    All in the wild gray weather.

"O dainty maid who drive the geese
    Across the common wide,
Turn, turn your pretty back on these
    And come and be my bride.

I am a poet from the town,
    And, 'mid the ladies there,
There is not one would wear a crown
    With half your charming air!"

She laughed, she shook her pretty head.
    "I want no poet's hand;
Go read your fairy-books," she said,
    "For this is fairy-land.
My Prince comes riding o'er the leas;
    He fitly comes to woo,
For I'm a Princess, and my geese
    Were poets, once, like you!"

1. Love and Knowledge
2. To One Who Pleaded for Candour in Love
3. A Last Appeal
4. The Touchstone
5. The Stolen God

Edna Millay The Goose-Girl ("Spring rides no horses down the hill")

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