Puck in pasture

Puck in pasture by E. MacKinstry is a collection of lyrical poems written in the early 20th century. Blending pastoral fantasy with folklore, it evokes fairy lore, Celtic and Arthurian myth, and the tension between everyday life and enchantment, often set in fields, moors, and by the sea.

The poems move from playful mischief to wistful yearning: Puck tries his hand at farm work with magical consequences; Fairy Raiders and a Leprecaun hover at the edges of hearth and cradle; voices long for Tir-n’an-Og; the Elfin Angelus lifts the veil between worlds and recalls Arthurian hopes. Songs and ballads entice mortals—Fawn O’Mera, Captain Spanish, wandering pipers, and gypsies—away from ordinary ties toward revel, road, or sea. Miniature marvels appear at an Elfin Fair; a field mouse laments its capture; a knight kneels forever at a Nixie’s pool; an old woman is beckoned back into Maytime joy. Sea-called “Osprey Folk” and a dreamlike ship press the wanderer outward; “Merlin” depicts the mage confined in a tower of air; “The Princess of Yan” spins an exotic, unreachable quest. The book closes in winter’s crystalline hush and an old poet’s serene passing, lulled by the music of the Shee.