Softly singing, as she looked
With dim eyes through the foam:
"When I have learned my lesson well,
I may be taken home.
Till I can rule my heart aright,
And conquer my own will,
I'd wait and work and hope and try.
Dear mother, love me still."
As thus the little mermaid cried,
There came a sudden gleam;
A cold drop fell upon her check,
And chased away the dream.
With wondering eyes did Bessie gaze
About on every side,—
The rocks whereon the mermaids sat
Were covered by the tide;
The great waves, with a solemn sound,
Came rolling slowly on;
The fresh winds played among her hair;
And all the dream was gone.
But Bessie long remembered it:
The lesson did not fail;
And all her life she followed well
Goldfin, not Silvertail.
