The sailor awoke to a heavenly sound,
his ship had dropped anchor in a moonlit bay.
Dead calm the sea, pale light all around
'twas a beautiful night to be lured away...
"Ne'er heed the mermaid!" the captain had said
"for many have followed that sweetest of songs
and been lost to their loved ones, lost, presumed dead,
you must leave the mermaid where she belongs"
"Tis true", thought the sailor, rubbing his eyes,
"if I keep myself hidden, I've nothing to fear"
and he peered through the porthole, eyes open wide
wishing only to glimpse what his ears could hear.
"Come" called the mermaid, "to a magical place
where the cares of this world are but shadows that fade"
then something like sadness crept over her face
"Make haste before morning, for a price I have paid"
The blood of the sailor ran cold in his veins
for none that have gazed on the mermaid's sweet face
have resisted. Around him, his shipmates slept on
as the mermaid's spell hung over that place.
"Come" called the mermaid "Come, you shall live!"
The sailor was powerless; enchanted, he climbed
on deck, and the captain's words "Ne'er heed the mermaid!"
was the final thought in the sailor's mind
as he dropped to the water. the surf glistened white
as the hand of the mermaid beckoned him on
and the ship in the distance, no more than a speck
in the shadows. With that, the sailor was gone.
They searched for the sailor from dawn until dusk
all around the deep waters of that sun-drenched bay
but never a trace of his body was found.
"Ne'er heed the mermaid!", he calls, to this day.
