Desudro

A creature sat upon a rock whose base was lapp'd by waves
To soak up rays of sun that pierc'd
the winds that turn'd the waves to spray,
and caught the wave-parts thus dispers'd
and carried far the drops away

And such a creature was indeed
the one that hugg'd the rock
whose base was bath'd in tossing waves
that toss'd upon the coast and mockèd
cliffs with ancient strength

Seeming in appearance like
a man of God's own work;
Yet don't be fool'd — t'was not a man
that sat and watch'd the coast
With hide of brown and raven hair
and eyes that glitter'd blue;
With arms of sinew plenty,
and with thew throughout his back;
With hands that stopp'd in claws that clutch'd
for purchase on the rock;
T'was a merman of appearance fair
that sat and watch'd the coast

The merfolk take a human's form
from the navel to the head
Yet not two legs beneath their waist;
a fish's tail instead
With fins and flippers gossamer
and scales that glint in light
their serpents' tails do steer them well
as they swim among the swells
with grace like birds in flight

Betwixt the valleys and the crests
of tumbling ocean waves
They swim and float and watch with glee
the humans on the coast

Amid the tossing tumbling swells
they frolic and they play
And yet—alas!—they love one thing
much more than surf and spray

Seeming lonely 'mid the weeds
that grow within the sea
They long for a companion's touch
to keep them company

So they sing their siren song,
with voices high and pure
and take what humans that they can,
clutch'd within their grasping hands,
and dive into the currents strong
That place to which they lure

The merman laid upon the rock,
stretch'd out beneath the sun that shines
so brightly on the tossing brine
And watchèd with a watchful gaze
a human on the coast
His skin was smooth, his face most fair.
his eyes shin'd bright beneath the locks
of his sandy color'd hair
The merman of the ancient sea —
His raven hair work'd into plaits
with seaweed woven in —
Lay and smil'd in the breeze

O merman of the murky waves
Why insist do you to leave
the coral and the oysters' pearls
Of your tenebrous briny sea?
The secrets old its currents hold,
untold to human eardrums, save:
Those who take the merfolk's hands
in hand with they themselves
and sink with them into the depths
of the ancient ocean cold
Where those with fish's tails do dwell
When not amid the foaming swells
Where they their vigils ever keep

Their vigil they forever keep

A merman sits upon a dock
beside a comely human boy
He smiles as he draws him near
and sings with lips press'd to his ear
Of riches if he'll with him come
He sings to him enchanting tales
A serenade to still his mind
as tightly 'round him arms entwine —
He sings and curls his fish's tail
around the ensnar'd young