Oh, who is so merry, so merry, heigh ho!
As the light-footed fairy? heigh ho,
Heigh ho!
The night is his noon
And the sun is his moon,
With a hey and a heigh and a ho.
Unknown
Would it not be pleasant to dance in a ring with your classmates? You might play that you are all fairies, and you might say this poem while you dance. Each pupil could make a red cap of paper. He might stick a white owl's or a white chicken's feather in it as fairies do. He could wear it while reciting the poem. But, first of all, you must make sure that you understand every line of the song, else you cannot say it well.
Oral Exercise.[37] 1. What do you like about this poem? Have you noticed that the fairy is called light-hearted in the first stanza of the poem, but light-headed in the second and light-footed in the third?
2. What do fairies drink? The second stanza tells. They find this delicious sweet drink in the cups of flowers.
3. As you know, fairies are rarely, if ever, seen in the daytime. The night is their day, when they dance and sing and do good deeds. What is meant in the poem by the line, The night is his noon? What is the fairies' sunlight?
Memory Exercise. 1. Read this poem aloud a number of times. You will not have to read it often before you will be able to say it without the book. When you know it, recite it to the class as well as you can. Wear your red cap and think of the merry, airy, light-hearted fairy as you recite it. That will help you to say it in a lively way.
2. Perhaps the teacher will permit the five or six pupils who have recited best to form a ring in front of the class and dance round and round as they recite the poem. Then the class may point out what might have been done better. Perhaps other bands of fairies will recite, each trying to recite best.