THE MERMAID’S SONG.
My ocean home—my ocean home!
Far in the dark blue main—
When shall the wearied exile roam
Thy glassy halls again!
Where is the wave that shadows thee,
Haunt of remembered infancy!
Where the broad flag that rests below
In its gem-girdled sleep,
And the yellow fan—and the dulse’s glow,
That bloom in the sunless deep?
And the purple rocks—and the coral grove—
All dear to memory and to love.
They may talk of their heaven of azure light,
And their sphere-wrought harmony—
And the glittering gems of their burning night—
Yet what are these to me?
I hear the deep wild strains that swell
From the sea green depths of my ocean cell.
Oh, give me back my pearl-lit home,
Beneath the billowy main—
And let the wearied exile roam
Her own green halls again!
Oh, let me leave this smiling shore,
For my own shadowy caves once more.