The Mermaid Song

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.
~T.S. Eliot

Last week, I shared a Ukrainian folk song's lyrics for Poetry Friday. This Saint Paddy's Day, I have an Irish one. Addendum: At first I assumed that the mermaid just knew the ways of the sea so she could tell what was going to happen, but then I wondered, "Is she MAKING it happen?" I don't know mermaid lore, but she does seem cheeky, raising a glass -- and they've barely left land! I also wondered whether the captain had tried to make a deal with her. What would the mermaid have asked for? A date for Friday night? Someone who could spell "mermaid"? I don't know but whatever it is, the captain can't manage it.

The Mermaid Song

It was a Friday morn when we set sail
And we were not far from the land
When our captain, he spied a mermaid so fair
With a comb and a glass in her hand.

Chorus:
Oh the ocean waves do roll
And the stormy winds do blow
And we poor sailors are skipping at the top
While the landlubbers lie down below, below, below
While the landlubbers lie down below.

Then up spoke the captain of our gallant ship
And a brave old skipper was he
"This fishy mermaid has warned me of our doom
We shall sink to the bottom of the sea."

Then up spoke the first mate of our gallant ship
And a well-spoken man was he
"I have me a wife in Boston by the sea
And tonight she a widow will be."

Then up spoke the bosun of our gallant ship
And a brave young man was he
"Well I've got a sweetheart at Salem by the sea
And tonight she be weepin' for me."

Then up spoke the cook of our gallant ship
And a crazy old butcher was he
"I care much more for my pots and my pans
Than I do for the bottom of the sea."

Then up spoke the cabinboy, of our gallant ship
And a brave young lad was he
"I'm not quite sure I can spell mermaid
But I'm going to the bottom of the sea."

Then three times around spun our gallant ship
And three times around spun she
Three times around spun our gallant ship
And she sank to the bottom of the sea.



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There's No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Ruth!