Poems (David)/The Mermaids
THE MERMAIDS.
CHILD.
I HEARD a voice o'er the moonlit sea Singing a wild and magic song—Scarce by the sleeping winds I ween, Was the sweet cadence borne along,Echoing back on the sandy shore, As the rippling ocean broke and fell,When deeper closed the starry night, The Mermaids' music fast did swell!
FIRST MERMAID.
Oh! children of the main are we? A thousand fathoms down our home;Daughters we of the pathless deep Sprung from the ever dancing foam.
SECOND MERMAID.
The mighty deep no mortal yet Hath dared with living foot to treadFar down beneath our coral halls, We safely lay to sleep, the dead.
FIRST AND SECOND MERMAIDS.
The sea boy lies in ocean grave, With amber shroud so richly bound;E'en for an earthly monarch proud, Can no such noble tomb be found.Hath the wide world, midst all her treasures, Gold more pure or jewels more rare?Can ye gather woodland blossoms That with living flowers compare?
THIRD MERMAID.
Children of earth, midst our coral caves, Our gay and white, our pearl strewn bowers;We rule amid the bright and tossing main, And gather fairest ocean flowers.
FOURTH MERMAID.
Oh! the fair forms of earth and air Are by the restless sea outvied; Ha! Ha! we laugh, what mortal one Can live beneath its bosom wide?
THIRD AND FOURTH MERMAIDS.
The sea is ours, and who may dare To rival this our ocean sway?What conquering hand our boundless realm Shall ever wrest from us away?Full fathoms 'neath the beauteous sea We chant our weird and magic song;Taming the dolphin fierce and wild, Skimming the azure deep along.
CHILD.
Oh! ye wild, enchanting voices, Thus wafted by the summer wind;Drifting on with wild sad burden Of mingled joy and pain we find.Hark! a single voice is rising O'er the deep's cool rippling waves;Now it swells, ah! now 'tis dying, Thro' the lone ocean's coral caves.
FIRST MERMAID.
List, list, fair child of gloomy earth, To the wonderous dreams we tell; Thou shalt seek 'neath the bounding main With the daughters of ocean to dwell!
CHILD.
I fear to meet the wild white crests Of waves that kiss shore's sandy rim;And the waste of tumbling waters, That break on ocean's varying brim.
SECOND MERMAID.
Reach forth thy hand, my little one; Behold this string so rich and rare,They are bright pearls, since yester morn, Our coral grot for thee didst bear!
CHILD.
Your pearls are bright, and thy voices sweet, So gently kind, and softly mild;Come to the shore that ye may greet The proud and wayward daring child!
THIRD MERMAID.
I come, fair child of sunny land, With offerings of pearls and shell;Oh! wilt thou love the weedy shore Better than 'neath the deep to dwell?
CHILD.
Pure and bright the gay crystal drops That about thy amber tresses lay,And silvery bands of moonlight stream Around thy fairy forms that play;Oh! ye bright daughters of the waves, Sleeping deep down in coral cell;Oh! fain with ye fair nymphs of ocean, Within thy crystal halls to dwell!
FOURTH MERMAID.
Thou hast asked of ocean's children, Ah! what their lips dare not name;Know ye 'tis the self same powers That didst the mighty genii frame.
CHILD.
Oh! wilt thou sing?—thy voices wild Echo softly o'er the deep cool sea;The music of the moonlit waters Will bear a burden sweet for thee!
FIRST MERMAID.
Oh! spirit I am of azure deep, The billows crest I boldly ride; Borne on the petrels dusky wing I skim the ever rolling tide.O'er the hidden caves of the ocean My wild and trackless course I steer;I love to think no mortal hand Can check my mad and wild career!
SECOND MERMAID.
Spirit am I of the wide blue sea, Safe I hide in the sandy cove,Where the waves come softly creeping, And the lone sea-gull loves to rove;While the waves with their ceaseless music Rehearse, of winter's wrecks, the tales,And the bright and laughing waters Murmur to the soft summer gales!
CHILD.
Would I might dwell in crystal home, 'Neath the fathomless deep blue sea;Oh! bear me to thy coral grots, That I may ever rest with thee!
THIRD AND FOURTH MERMAIDS.
We'll teach thy infant hand to tame The fierce and angry wild sea-horse; To tread the ocean, ride the billows, When sweeping on their reckless course.Who can trammel the mighty main? Or e'en bridle its curbless will?Fair child of earth it shall be thine— Thy cup of joy with mirth will fill.
CHILD.
Children of the wide main, I come To rest within thy lonely bowers;Fain would F fill each eager hand With old ocean's bright living flowers!
FIRST GENII.
Farewell to ye, fair child of earth! The mountain, and the forest dells;A welcome wild the mermaids sing To greet thee mid their coral cells.
SECOND GENII.
And bounding o'er the moonlight main, Will mortals see thee from the shore;But human hands, in joy or pain, Thou shalt, alas! press never more!
THIRD GENII.
Sadly thou, fair unthinking child, Must weep within thy coral caves;O weary long for gentle hands That lay beyond the briny waves.
ALL.
Alas! alas! ne'er weal nor woe Can break the mermaids' magic spell;And lonely thro' the woods we wail, For thee, fair child, a last farewell!