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The Foresaken Mermaid

from Dum Jums by Headwind-1

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Lyrics: Matthew Arnold Poet Laurate

lyrics

THE FORSAKEN MERMAID

Down, down, down,
Down to the depths of the sea.
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.
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,
And the whizzing wheel stands still.
She steels to the window, and looks at the sand ;
And over the sand to the sea ;
And her eyes are set in a stare ;
And anon there breaks in a sigh,
And anon there drops a tear,
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.
Come children, come down.
The hoarse wind blows colder ;
Lights shine in the town .
She will start from her slumber
When gusts shake the door ;
She will hear the winds howling,
Will hear the waves roar.
We shall see, while above us
The waves roar and whirl,
A ceiling of amber,
A pavement of pearl.
Singing, ‘Here came a mortal,
But faithless was she.
And alone dwell for ever
The kings of the sea.’

But, children, at midnight,
When soft the winds blow ;
When clear falls the moonlight ;
When springtides are low :
When sweet airs come seaward
From heaths starr‘d with broom;
And high rocks throw mildly
On the blanched sands a gloom :

Up the still, gleaming beaches,
Up the creeks we will hie ;
Over banks of bright seaweed
The ebb-tide leaves dry.

We will gaze, from the sand-hills,
At the white, sleeping town ;
At the church on the hill-side---
And then come back down.
Singing, ‘There dwells a lov’d one,
But cruel is she.
She left lonely for ever
The kings of the sea.’

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from Dum Jums, released March 23, 2012

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Headwind-1 UK

Nautical Spacerock!. . .Know Yourself . . Nothing In Excess.
Marine Artwork By Kind Permission Of My Good Friend Barry Mason Seaton, Devon's Foremost Marine Artist.

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