The moon is in the sky, and the stars are shining too,
The summer-night is calm, and the sea is very blue;
The sea is very blue, and the radiance of the moon
Is playing on the waves like a lovely floating tune!
Upon a sea-girt rock a lonely mermaid stands,
She murmurs to the sea, and she wrings her little hands;
She wrings her little hands, and she murmurs o'er and o'er,
“Alas for me! I wish that I lived upon the shore!
“The sea is very cold, it makes me shiver so,
And I do not like the fish that about me come and go;
I do not like the fish—they swim so very near,
And the large ones leap and tumble, and fill my heart with fear.
“How horrible the creatures that are round me everywhere!
Oh, why do mortals take them and keep them with such care?
They do not heed the pretty grass that scenteth wood and dell,
But they pluck my sea anemones with their horrid fishy smell.
“Oh, dismal are the caverns beneath the foaming waves,
And dismal are the mermen who live within those caves!
And the slimy, slimy seaweeds that round them cling and grow,
And the dropping, dropping waters that make me shiver so!
“How beautiful the happy homes upon the blessèd land!
How beautiful the blazing fires I hardly understand!
But I should die contented if I once had my desire,
To slumber on a downy couch beside a blazing fire!
“And pretty on the downs are the tender lambs and sheep,
And pretty are the little dogs that run about and leap;
But when the children come and play upon the silver sand,
I cry—‘Alas, for me!—I wish I lived upon the land!’
“And then on summer evenings, Oh, what enchanting bliss,
To wander amid green, green woods on such a night as this!
With the blue heavens above your head that always tranquil lie,
Unlike the restless, leaping waves that form our troubled sky!”
Thus floated on the night breeze, on summer evenings long,
This lamentation, wild and strange, the lovely mermaid's song;
And still the burden was the same, repeated o'er and o'er,
“Alas, for me!—I wish that I lived upon the shore!”
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Lovely piscatory eclogue
From guest Ellen Moody (contact)
I loved it. Beautiful. She's a good poet and has written poems for adults too. Why should a poem be happy? Life is not happy, not for children either. -
FOR KIDS
From guest Lyn Trissell (contact)
i'm introducing poetry to sixth graders - once a month and this month's topic is Folklore. I really liked the mermaid and the message it contained. I know it will appeal to many of the students. -
jeez
This poem is extremely interesting, haven't seen anything like it before. And I think that even though it may be a depressing piece, it doesn't mean its horrible altogether
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I enjoyed this poem very much. The mermaid reminds me of how "land people" tend to think of the "grass being greener on the other side." The poet takes away the romantic image of the mermaid and paints a picture of dissatisfaction and furthers the "purging" by layers. The poem opens in an enchanting manner, and yet, with each stanza, the mermaid's laments become more evident. By the final stanza, the reader is wondering maybe my world is not so bad.
This is a fun piece, and one to be appreciated given the fact that it was written in the mid-1800's. -
This does not remind me of the Little Mermaid. Not the book, not the Animated film by Disney. This is a sad and depressing piece. You have a being, a Mermaid that hates everything about her, she hates her home, she hates her own people, she hates everything that is about the sea.
She speaks ill of 'fish' yet is she not one? Or at least half of one? That clearly shows she has resentment for herself.
She states that the 'land-dwellers' take fish from the sea and 'care' for it, which is a sole assumption on her part, she does not know that the 'land-dwellers' eat the fish. Would her opinion then change if she knew such a thing?
Probably not but this does not seem to me to be a happy piece, or a love story of any kind. This seems like a girl who looks in a mirror (or the reflection from the ocean) and sees nothing but darkness and gloom.
A very depressing piece, I feel.
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Yes, it reminded me of Little Mermaid too. I guess, that is because that is the story that actually gets us associated with the term Mermaid.
I am not familiar with the poet, and I don't really regret it. Somehow, I just couldn't appreciate this piece.
Anyways, good to read something by a poet I haven't heard of.
Ankita -
Ha. Yes, it reminded me of Little Mermaid, also. Hmmm....Menella...what an interesting name. I have never heard of her. Well, she did a good job here.
Love and Blessings, Ashlee
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i liked it umm the way the mermaid wants to be able to go onto the land and the repition in the beginning also brought the whole thing together beautiful piece!!!!
~~*~~BEC~~*~~ -
Again, a poet I'm not familiar with- one of the joys of Old Poetry is finding new poets for me to read. I liked her write here, I think the mermaid could be so much more- in a way it made me think of an ambitious woman longing to be of a 'better' class, but I could be wrong. On a lighter note, it reminded me of the Little Mermaid
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