Song of the Water Sprite
The weary sun, all goldën red,
Sinks in the sea;
All fiery glows his ocean bed—
There seek me;
For there, my floating tresses lave
In the golden fires of the crystal wave,
For ever free!
When Vesper first peers through the sky
O’er wild Tiree,
And twinkling darts her light from high—
There find me;
The clear air nerves my gossamer wing,
And I love to hear the star-sprites sing,
For ever free!
The mildly radiant Queen of Night
Dreams o’er the sea,
And bathes the deep in silv’ry light—
There seek me;
For there I skim her watery glass,
And I merrily watch each spirit pass,
For ever free!
I love the Sun—I love the Moon—
So fair to see;
I love the little twinkling stars,
And they love me;
I, too, love my emerald home,
With its coral cells ’neath the sparkling foam,
For ever free!
For there, we lightly trip around
The coral tree,
And quickly beat the pearly ground
All merrily:
While o’er us, as we gaily sing,
All the crystal domes with music ring,
For ever free!
When sun, or stars, are shining bright
Down through the sea,
When pure domes flushed in sunset light
Change gloriously,
We play with murmuring rose-lipp’d shells,
Or we sail a-down clear waterfalls,
For ever free!
We hear, in each cool sparry cave,
Plaint melody
Sung by the mermaids of the wave,
Æōlianly!
While ocean’s coral groves around,
With the witching syren-notes resound,
For ever free!
Hark! hark! the sweet-voiced choir renew
Their symphony!
All quivering with a rainbow hue
In ecstasy,
Our spangled wings now waft us high,
Through the mazy paths of the starry sky,
For ever free!
Andrew James Symington.