“O Agnes, Agnes, daughter dear!
Where hast thou been this many a year?”
“O, I have been deep, deep under the sea,
And liv’d with the Merman in love and glee.”
“And what for thy honour did he give thee,
When he made thee his leman beneath the sea?”
“He gave me silver, he gave me gold,
And sprigs of coral my hair to hold.”
The Merman up to the church door came;
His eyes they shone like a yellow flame;
His face was white, and his beard was green—
A fairer demon was never seen.
“Now, Agnes, Agnes, list to me,
Thy babes are longing so after thee.”
“I cannot come yet, here must I stay
Until the priest shall have said his say.”
And when the priest had said his say,
She thought with her mother at home she’d stay.
“O Agnes, Agnes, list to me,
Thy babes are sorrowing after thee.”