Once Upon a Time, and Other Child-Verses

by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

ONCE UPON A TIME

NOW, once upon a time, a nest of fairies

Was in a meadow 'neath a wild rose-

tree;

And, once upon a time, the violets clustered

So thick around it one could scarcely see;

And, once upon a time, a troop of children

Came dancing by upon the flowery ground;

And, once upon a time, the nest of fairies,