By splash of spray, the threads are torn,

Or, as ’twere some old water-witch,

Grown weary eyed, had dropped a stitch,

Appears a patch of faded stuff,

Of fretted, dingy-brown, or buff,

With nets of fisher-folk, in spots,

Entangled with the lobster-pots.

But see! a bit of old brocade,

A water-kelpie must have made;

And there’s a garb of quaintest kind