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Alfred Lord Tennyson - The Mermaid
Work rating: Low

I

Who would be 
A mermaid fair, 
Singing alone, 
Combing her hair 
Under the sea, 
In a golden curl 
With a comb of pearl, 
On a throne?

II

    I would be a mermaid fair; 
I would sing to myself the whole of the day; 
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair; 
And still as I comb`d I would sing and say, 
`Who is it loves me? who loves not me?` 
I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall 
        Low adown, low adown, 
From under my starry sea-bud crown 
        Low adown and around, 
And I should look like a fountain of gold 
        Springing alone 
    With a shrill inner sound 
        Over the throne 
    In the midst of the hall; 
Till that great sea-snake under the sea 
From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps 
Would slowly trail himself sevenfold 
Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate 
With his large calm eyes for the love of me. 
And all the mermen under the sea 
Would feel their immortality 
Die in their hearts for the love of me.

III

But at night I would wander away, away, 
    I would fling on each side my low-flowing locks, 
And lightly vault from the throne and play 
    With the mermen in and out of the rocks; 
We would run to and fro, and hide and seek, 
    On the broad sea-wolds in the crimson shells, 
Whose silvery spikes are nighest the sea. 
But if any came near I would call and shriek, 
And adown the steep like a wave I would leap 
    From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells; 
For I would not be kiss`d by all who would list 
Of the bold merry mermen under the sea. 
They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me, 
In the purple twilights under the sea; 
But the king of them all would carry me, 
Woo me, and win me, and marry me, 
In the branching jaspers under the sea. 
Then all the dry-pied things that be 
In the hueless mosses under the sea 
Would curl round my silver feet silently, 
All looking up for the love of me. 
And if I should carol aloud, from aloft 
All things that are forked, and horned, and soft 
Would lean out from the hollow sphere of the sea, 
All looking down for the love of me.
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