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The Forsaken Merman Music by Brian Thomas Based on the poem by Matthew Arnold Adapted by Brian Thomas Come, dear children, let us away Now my brothers, call from the bay, Call from the bay Now the great winds shoreward blow, Now the salt tides seaward flow; Now the wild white horses play, Champ and chafe and toss in the spray. Children dear, let us away! This way, this way! Call her once yet, call her before you go - Call her once in a voice that she will know: Children's voices wild with pain Call her yet once then come away This way, this way! 'Mother dear we cannot stay! The wild white horses foam and spray. Mother dear we cannot stay The sea goes restless and we must away.' Come away, dear children, call no more! One last look at the little grey church on the shore She will not come though you call all day; Come dear children, and let us away, This way, this way! She sits at her wheel in the town Singing most joyfully, hear the sound. 'Joy, O joy, for the child with its toy! For the priest, and the bell, and the holy well; For the wheel where I spun and the light of the sun!' So she sings her fill most joyfully, Till the spindle drops from her hand, She steals to the window, and looks at the sand, And over the sand to the sea; And her eyes are set in a stare; And anon there breaks a sigh, And anon there drops a tear, From a sorrow-clouded eye, And a heart sorrow-laden, For the cold strange eyes Of her little Mermaiden And the gleam of her golden hair. Children, at midnight, When soft the wind blows, When pale lies the moonlight, When spring tides are low; We'll go to the bay Up the glistening beaches we'll hie, Over the seaweed the ebb-tide leaves dry. We will gaze, from the sand hills, At the white, sleeping town; At the church on the hill-side - And then come back down. Children dear, was it yesterday We heard the bell, and she went away? Once she sat with you and me, On a red gold throne in the heart of the sea, And the little one sat on her knee. She combed its bright hair, and tended it well When down swung the sound of a far-off bell. She said: 'I must go, for my kinsfolk pray In the little grey church on the shore today. 'Twill be Easter time in the world - ah me! And I'll lose my poor soul, Merman! here with thee.' I said: 'Go up, dear heart, through the waves Say thy prayer, and come back to the caves!' She smiled, and went up to the bay Children dear, was it yesterday? Come away, dear children, call no more Come away down, down to the depths of the sea Here came a mortal, but faithless was she! And alone dwell forever the kings of the sea Lonely, lonely Come away, dear children, call no more Come away down, down to the depths of the sea There dwells a loved one, but cruel is she! She left lonely forever the Kings of the sea, Lonely, lonely Copyright 2003 BTMS Publishing |