Come, dear children, come away down. One last look at the white-walled town, And the little gray church on the windy shore, Then come down. She will not come though you call all day. Children dear, was it yesterday We heard the sweet bells over the bay? Through the surf and through the swell, Where the spent lights quiver and gleam; Where the sea beasts ranged all round Children dear, was it yesterday - Once she sate with you and me, On a red gold throne in the heart of the sea, She combed its bright hair, and she tended it well, Children dear, were we long alone? "The sea grows stormy, the little ones moan. Long prayers," I said, "in the world they say. Come!" I said, and we rose through the surf in the bay. 34 We went up the beach by the sandy down Where the sea-stocks bloom, to the white-walled town, 5 From the church came a murmur of folk at their prayers, But we stood without in the cold blowing airs. We climbed on the graves, on the stones worn with rains, 10" Margaret, hist! come quick, we are here! For her eyes were sealed to the holy book. Come away, come down, call no more! Down, down, down, Down to the depths of the sea ! 20 She sits at her wheel in the humming town, Singing most joyfully. Hark what she sings: "O joy, O joy, For the humming street and the child with its toy, For the priest and the bell and the holy well; 25 For the wheel where I spun, And the blessed light of the sun !" And so she sings her fill, Singing most joyfully, Till the shuttle falls from her hand, 30 And the whizzing wheel stands still. 5 10 36 She steals to the window and looks at the sand, From a sorrow-clouded eye, And a heart sorrow-laden, A long, long sigh, For the cold strange eyes of a little mermaiden, And the gleam of her golden hair. Come away, away, children, The salt tide rolls seaward. She will start from her slumber Will hear the waves roar. 15 She will hear the winds howling, Wh We shall see, while above us F 20 The waves roar and whirl, A Lod A ceiling of amber, To A pavement of pearl. Singing: "Here came a mortal, But faithless was she! 25 And alone dwell forever I for The kings of the sea." T 330 But, children, at midnight, When soft the winds blow, When clear falls the moonlight, oirs come seaward I |