“If thou knowest that, then much more thou dost know,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
So do thou my destiny unto me show,
And thus by thee shall my will be done.”
“If I should thy destiny to thee announce,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
On a fire of faggots thoud’st burn me at once!
By me unwilling your will is done.
“Three babes thou shalt bear, each a beautiful boy,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
And in leaving thy womb they thy life shall destroy,
And thus fair Queen thy will is done.”
“If with me, luckless me, it no better shall speed,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
Inform me what fortune for them is decreed,
For thus by thee can my will be done.”
“The first shall be King in old Denmark of them,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
The next shall succeed to the gold diadem,
By me can thus thy will be done.
“The third as the wisest of mortals shall shine,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
And for him thou art doomed thy young life to resign,
Thus all your will, fair Queen, I’ve done.”
In her mantle of azure the Queen wrapt her head,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
And unto the hall to the Monarch she sped,
For she her will had fairly done.
“Now hear my entreaty, my heart’s belov’d Lord,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
To my own disposal this mermaid award,
For she my will has fairly done.”
“I’ll not give her thee, nor her life shalt thou save,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
For my seven brave vessels she swamped in the wave,
My pleasure thus she has not done.”
Black, black as a clod grew the Queen at that word,
( The mermaid dances the floor upon )
And down she fell senseless before the King’s board,
Because her will she had fairly clone.