Page:Morning-Glories and Other Stories.djvu/160

Then bitter, salt sea-drops they gave,
   From out a hollow shell;
And garlands fair upon her head,
   They laid, with song and spell.
A cloud arose, like sudden mist;
   And, when it passed, the child
Found herself, by drop and garland,
   Changed to a mermaid wild.
With timid haste she glided down
   Into the cold, cold sea;
And bid her playmates show her where
   Her future home would be.
Down deep into the ocean went
   The mermaids, one and all,
O'er many a wondrous hill and dale,
   Through many a coral hall.
The child's heart in the mermaid's form
   Beat fast with sudden fear;
For all was gloomy, strange, and dim
   Beneath the waters clear.
She missed the blessed air of heaven;
   She missed the cheerful light,
She feared the monsters weird, who looked
   From caverns dark as night;
Her food was now sea-apples cold,
   And bitter spray she drank;
Her bed was made on barren rocks,
   Of sea-moss, rough and dank;
Strange creatures floated far and near,
   Or crawled upon the sand;
And soon she longed with all her heart
   For the green, summery land.
Here Bessie lived; but daily grew
   More restless than before,
And sighed to be a child again,—
   Safe on the pleasant shore.
She often rose up to the light,
   A human voice to hear;
And look upon her happy home,—
   That now seemed very dear.