SEA FAIRY
Reading edition
ALL day long the waves wander and the winds cry, And there are blue stones sparkling by the shores; But with evening there cometh a silence over the void sky And the sea is hushed along her coral corridors. Then the mer-girls fall asleep, their singing is over, Their golden limbs lie stretched along the sands; And wearily nods the Sun like a giant lover, In a blood-red bath of dreams, with lilies in his hands. On white wings screaming come the elvish gulls But lo! where a glint of turquoise divides the cliffs, Where the Halcyon Birds whom the rest of the world thinks fools Are crossing the Ocean becalmed on their amorous skiffs.