The Sea-Nymph

The Sea-Nymph written by Walter de la Mare

Stuff and Nonsense (1927)

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There was an old mariner
Heard 'mid his dunes
A swallow-tailed sea-nymph
Decanting of tunes.
Trill, grace-note, cadenza,
And high in the treble,
She warbled as sweet
As a sea-nymph is able.

He hearkened, he pondered,
He said, "I'm aware
Of the strains of a sea-nymph
Seducing the air;
No doubt she sits combing
And sleeking her hair.

"She sings like a linnet,
I assume she is fair,
And she may be supposing
That I'm lurking near!
But of music I've little;
Of voice I have none;
I can merely applaud
When the aria is done."

So he sate on the dunes
By the fringe of the deep,
And, lulled by her warblings,
He fel fast asleep.
When he woke, 'twas cold night
With huge stars overhead,
But all silent the sands
Of his barbarous bed.

He sighed - oh, sighed softly:
"My applause will come late,
For I see that the sea-nymph
Was unable to wait;
Still, good manners must not by
Inaction be sapped";
So he clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-
Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clapped.

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