Or the eve’s soft crimson beam,
Illumined the glass of the azure deep,
Should be the sweet time my revels to keep,
And sport in the ocean’s stream.
But, midst high fervours of noon,
I’d dive to the depths below,
And dwell in the cool of the rock’s deep cells,
Where lurk the rich agates and pink-valved shells,
And many-hued seaweeds grow.
Oh! that I a mermaid were,