Hannah F. Gould (1789–1865)

COME, mariner, down in the deep with me,

And hide thee under the wave—

For I have a bed of coral for thee;

And quiet and sound shall thy slumbers be

In a cell in the Mermaid’s cave.

On a pillow of pearls thine eye shall sleep,

And nothing disturb thee there;

The fishes their silent vigils shall keep—

There shall be no grass thy grave to sweep

But the silk of the Mermaid’s hair.

And she who is waiting with cheek so pale,

As the tempest and ocean roar;

And weeps when she hears the menacing gale,

Or sighs to behold her mariner’s sail

Come whitening up to the shore.

She has not long to linger for thee;—

Her sorrows shall soon be o’er;

For, the cord shall be broke and the prisoner free,

Her eye shall close; and her dreams will be

So sweet she will wake no more!