THE MERMAID.
A mermaid smoothing her sunny hair,
Fanned by the breath of the summer air,
Sang to me,—"Love, wilt thou go with me
"Down to the depths of the purple sea?"—
"Maiden, ah yes! I will go with thee,
"And lap my soul in felicity!"
Down we went through the crystal waters
Evermore waving round Neptune's daughters,
Down, till the light of the starry sky
Melted away like an echoed sigh,
And the rapt breast of the restless ocean
Sank into still dreams of past emotion,
Down, and we stood on a pleasant shore
Paven with shells from the Naiad's store,
Shining and rosy-lipp'd such as keep
The mermaid's songs for their balmy sleep.
Flowers there were set with sparkling gems,
Gleaming amid the white coral stems,
And flinging their measure of light and scent
Up through the translucent firmament.
And as the air by a bird's wing laven,
Or a deep pool by a white hand waven,
Floated the swells of the dewy tide
Round the sea-maiden and me beside.
Onward we went where a diamond portal
Kept the pure light of the dawn immortal,
Making the heart sicken o'er to win
The halcyon joys it enclosed within;
Entered we under its arching sweep
Into the palace hall of the deep,
Where 'neath the vault of its lofty dome
Have the nymphs and mermen gay their home;
There sat old Neptune upon his throne,
A foaming wave that was turn'd to stone,
And round about him his merry crew
With brimming cups of the purple dew;
Wandering far through the lumin'd halls,
Where light was bred in the ruby walls,
Stray'd the fair Naiads with golden hair,
That wanton'd about in the perfumed air;
And flowing robes round their white limbs waved,
Like moonbeams bright into substance laved.
Neptune in tones that spread far and wide,
"Ho! Ho! a man with a mermaid bride!"
And the blue dome rung with cruel laughter,
Till all the arches mutter'd it after;
Then came the nymphs in a radiant string,
And circled us round like Saturn's ring,
Forms that appearing to mortal eyes
Dazzle them so that the spirit dies.
Then to my mermaid old Neptune saith,
"Hymn the rash mortal unto his death!"
She with a voice that murmuring stole
Deep as a heaven thought into my soul—
"O! in the land that is under the waves
"To dwell with my love in the coral caves,
"To bind his brows with a diamond zone,
"And call the light of his eyes mine own;
"To roam with him through the boundless space,
"And make the billow our resting place,
"There sing our songs till we fall asleep,
"And dream of Elysium in the deep;
"Waves are flowing for ever and ever,
"O they will rock us for ever and ever,
"Hush every sorrow to quiet rest,
"And pillow love in each other's breast;
"O they will sink us deeper and deeper,
"Until they themselves sleep with the sleeper,
"Until there is only love awake,
"That cannot sleep for his own sweet sake;
"Come in my bosom, then, come with me,
"Down to the depths of the purple sea!"
All my soul thrill'd and panted for bliss
As pilgrims thirst in the wilderness;
I cried, "O maiden, whose softest sighs
"Are sweeter than all Earth's melodies,
"If thou wilt wander with me for ever,
"And naught have power our true hearts to sever,
"I shall forget all that earth calls fair,
"And all that I fondly treasured there,
"The meadows and hills and sunny dells,
"And the birds and fragrant heather-bells,
"And I will follow thee through the deep,
"Where waves shall rock us to tender sleep;
"All powers of ocean I will defy,
"And follow thee though it be but to die!"
Neptune then, "Youth thou hast bravely said,
"And meet art thou with a nymph to wed,
"So thou shalt live out thy little span
"Unscathed by the hands of the blithe merman."
So they bound me fast in cruel sleep,
And bore me silently from the deep,
And ne'er have I seen my mermaid more,
Though oft I watch for her on the shore.
THE SPIRIT OF THE AIR.
A spirit came to me on the breeze
Sweet with the breath of the orange trees,
Floated about me, and murmur'd soft,
"O Poet! wilt fly with me far aloft?
"And I will show thee the realms of space
"Where the lightning can find no resting place.
"We will away to the home of morn,
"And see the first youngling sunbeams born.
"We will away to the cave of Night,
"And wake the echoes to sudden fright,
"And then we'll wander among the stars
"And mark the roll of their golden cars?"—
"Spirit! I'll go with thee through the sky,
"For my soul pants ever to soar on high,
"If thou wilt bear me upon thy wings,
"And guide me amid our bright wanderings."
Swiftly we went through the sunny air,
Higher than ever the skylark dare,
And the bright clouds where the summer beams
Slumber and revel in golden dreams,
Lay far beneath us like dewy fumes
Hovering over the flower-blooms.
Higher we went till the puny Earth
Dwindled away to an atom girth,
And the record of our rapid way
Was the far death of a starry ray;
Then we drew nigh to the palace bright
Where morning treasures her dewy light,
Cool'd by the breath of the angels' wings,
And sweet with their musical utterings.
There we saw the young day-beams awaken,
And the earth's rays from their soft tresses shaken,
And there we saw the sweet zephyrs rise,
That woo the flowers with gentle sighs,
And kiss the mist from the streamlet's tide,
As tears are kiss'd from a happy bride;
The angels of Joy and bliss were there,
Lapt in the folds of the balmy air,
Breathing their pæans till far away
The echoes went with the light of day;
The spirit said, "Hence the ray of morn,
"Like a poor child unto sorrow born,
"Wends to the earth with sweet smiles uplit,
"And from the darkness awakens it;
"But though it whisper of peace and love,
"And tell the world of the joys above,
"They will not hearken unto the voice
"Whose accents faint make the flowers rejoice,
"But still grovel on in strife and sorrow,
"And make the signal of war, 'the morrow.'"
Onward we went through the heavens afar
Swift as the course of a shooting star,
Until dark shadows began to fall
Around our way, like a funeral pall,
Deeper and deeper, and then the gloom
Grew thick as it were the Night's own tomb;
There was no sound save the rushing wave
Closing the furrow our passing clave;
There was no sound save the beating heart,
That at its own throbbings seemed to start;
There was no sound save the ebb and flow
Of my own breathing drawn long and low;
Then the air-spirit gave forth a cry
That rang through the arches of the sky,
Whereat a myriad echoes leapt
Forth from the darkness 'mid which they slept,
Shouted an answer in fierce surprise,
That rumbled far into faintest sighs,
Then slowly sank to their rest again,
And left the Night to her silent reign.
On we went whilst the sounds grew dimmer,
Till stars afar began to glimmer
Like flashing lights on a lonely mere,
Like tapers dim round a sable bier;
Onward, till many a radiant world
In solemn glory across us whirl'd,
Shaking the air in their mighty march,
Like thunder beneath its prison arch;
Ever louder the swift wind bore us
The swell of their eternal chorus,
Filling the soul of the boundless sky
With strains of adoring harmony.
Past us came Mars all fiery and red,
Like a warrior stain'd with the blood he shed;
And his voice o'er all rang clear and high
Pealing for ever Truth's battle-cry;
Saturn came with his blazing ring,
Like a crown round the brows of a Titan king,
Circled by many a satellite,
That made his pathway through heaven bright;
The star of eve like a maiden sphere,
Gleaming with beauty and grace, drew near,
Sweeping along 'mid heaven's panoply,
The sweetest and fairest child of the sky;
Onward they came in myriad lines
From space whereon the sun never shines,
But fades away like a twinkling star
'Neath orbs whose glory is greater far;
Many a beautiful world appear'd,
Such as not even Fancy hath rear'd,
Sinless and happy as Heaven will be,
And stamp'd with the seal of Eternity.