THE MERMAID OF ZENNOR.

    “Fisher hast thou seen the mermaid combing her hair, yellow as gold, by the noontide
sun, at the edge of the water?”

emph rend=”indent”>“I have seen the fair mermaid: I have also heard her singing her songs plaintive
as the waves.”

— Breton Ballad.

    Come! for the night and the wind are here,
                        And I am here:
    Hard is your heart, but soft my arms,
                        And soft the sea,—
                                                                                                Come!

    O human man, leave humanity
                        For these deeper depths:
    Lean from the land, O human love,
                        And come to me,—
                                                                                                Come!

    My bright hair burns, and the waves burn,
                        And my lips burn:
    Strange is your heart, and strange the land,
                        And life is strange,—
                                                                                                Come!

    Warm is the wind, and warmer the waves,
                        And my heart is warm:
    Cold is your heart, my body cold,
                        And death is cold,—
                                                                                                Come!

                                                                        L. C. Duncombe Jewell.

Written for the Psaltery,
    10 Mis Merh,
            1903.