The Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Anne goes to the Avonlea graveyard with her favourite pupil, Paul Irving, and talk of fairyland:
Anne and Paul both knew
“How fair the realm
Imagination opens to the view,”and both knew the way to that happy land. There the rose of joy bloomed immortal by dale and stream; clouds never darkened the sunny sky; sweet bells never jangled out of tune; and kindred spirits abounded. The knowledge of that land’s geography…”east o’ the sun, west o’ the moon”… is priceless lore, not to be bought in any market place. It must be the gift of the good fairies at birth and the years can never deface it or take it away. It is better to possess it, living in a garret, than to be the inhabitant of palaces without it.
-Anne of Avonlea ch.15
This fairy-tale phrase is popularly used in literature, and may have originated from a poem by William Morris (1834–1896) of the same title, in his volume The Earthly Paradise. This poem is not currently available online.
Source
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/m/morris/william/
