| |
| THERE is a Mermaid in the Bay | |
| And she hath called me forth to sup | |
| To eat the white flesh of the moon | |
| And drain the tide from out her cup, | |
| Her table is amid the rocks | 5 |
| And all the day her arms swing free | |
| A-gathering in the threads o’ foam | |
| To weave a supper cloth for me. | |
| |
| There is a Mermaid in the Bay | |
| And she hath trapped the phantom gulls | 10 |
| And caught the silver fish that dart | |
| Like coins through the ship-wrecked hulls. | |
| But loud she calls ‘What boots a feast | |
| That shows no cloth whereon to spread | |
| The scarlet sunset of my wine, | 15 |
| The pallid starlight of my bread?’ | |
| |
| There is a Mermaid in the Bay | |
| And from this golden lip of land | |
| I watch her labouring ’mid the foam | |
| With seaweed hair and pearly hand, | 20 |
| Though all the waves like caravans | |
| Bring silver threads and tapestry, | |
| Each one draws back its merchandise | |
| And seeks the desert of the sea. | |
| |
| There is a Mermaid in the Bay, | 25 |
| But till her supper cloth is done, | |
| Pale fringed with tassels of the dawn | |
| Gold hemmed with threads of summer sun, | |
| God wots I wait her on the land, | |
| Until I hear the seaweeds stir | 30 |
| And know it is His saintly will | |
| I should go forth to sup with her. | |
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