Little Pagan Priestess

Little Pagan Priestess

Little pagan priestess in the moonlight,
Fairy lady in your robes of gold -
Haven't they told you, didn't they warn you,
The poor Horned Lord is growing old?


Little fairy princess in the springtime,
Little lady in your robes of blue -
Haven't they said the Hornèd One is lonely?
He's searching in the empty woods for you.


Little fairy priestess in the summer,
Dancing all alone in woods of green -
Don't you know the Hornèd One must need you
To reign beside him as his Summer Queen?


Little pagan priestess in the autumn
When the falling leaves are turning red -
Now summer's almost gone, and winter's coming on;
The Hornèd One hangs low his antlered head.


Little pagan priestess in the winter -
Can't you see you, too, are growing old?
The seasons all are lost, and the ground lies thick with frost;
The lonely antlered head is not so bold.


Little pagan priestess in the moonlight,
Dancing barefoot in a fairy ring -
Today you are a child, tomorrow woman wild;
Maybe next year you'll hear the Horned One sing.


O little girl who dances in the sunlight -
Is that your father's step upon the path?
Remember that I, too, was once a child like you.
Perhaps one day you'll make a good man laugh.

By JANET, about 1990

Farrar/Bone 1997