Mermaids

For centuries Mermaids have fascinated, inspired and mystified in legends and lore.

Garrido Leandro Ramon

Loreley

I do not know what haunts me, What saddened my mind all day; An age-old tale confounds me, A spell I cannot allay.

The air is cool and in twilight The Rhine's dark waters flow; The peak of the mountain in highlight Reflects the evening glow.

There sits a lovely maiden Above so wondrous fair, With shining jewels laden, She combs her golden hair.

It falls through her comb in a shower, And over the valley rings A song of mysterious power That lovely maiden sings.

The boatman in his small skiff is Seized by a turbulent love, No longer he marks where the cliff is, He looks to the mountain above.

I think the waves must fling him Against the reefs nearby, And that did with her singing The lovely Loreley.

- Heinrich Heine

Waterhouse

Hyward Pyle

Leighton

Dulac

Alice B. Woodward

Hannah Fraser

The sea maid

from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

by Arthur Rackham

To where I watch on the yellow sands,
and they pluck sweet music with sea-cold hands.

They bring me coral and amber clear.
But when the stars in heaven appear,

their music ceases, they glide away.
They swim for their grottos across the bay.

Then listen only to my shrill tune,
the surfy tide, and the wondering moon.