The Merman poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems

I

Who would be

A merman bold,

Sitting alone

Singing alone

Under the sea,

With a crown of gold,

On a throne?

II

I would be a merman bold,

I would sit and sing the whole of the day;

I would fill the sea-halls with a voice of power;

But at night I would roam abroad and play

With the mermaids in and out of the rocks,

Dressing their hair with the white sea-flower;

And holding them back by their flowing locks

I would kiss them often under the sea,

And kiss them again till they kiss’d me

Laughingly, laughingly;

And then we would wander away, away,

To the pale-green sea-groves straight and high,

Chasing each other merrily.

III

There would be neither moon nor star;

But the wave would make music above us afar —

Low thunder and light in the magic night —

Neither moon nor star.

We would call aloud in the dreamy dells,

Call to each other and whoop and cry

All night, merrily, merrily.

They would pelt me with starry spangles and shells,

Laughing and clapping their hands between,

All night, merrily, merrily,

But I would throw to them back in mine

Turkis and agate and almondine;

Then leaping out upon them unseen

I would kiss them often under the sea,

And kiss them again till they kiss’d me

Laughingly, laughingly.

O, what a happy life where mine

Under the hollow-hung ocean green!

Soft are the moss-beds under the sea;

We would live merrily, merrily.

 

 

 

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Lord Alfred Tennyson

More poems by Baron Alfred, Lord Tennyson