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1 The King did a Mermaid catch and keep,
(The Mermaids all a-playing)
And chained her in a dungeon deep,
His will was no gainsaying.
2 The Queen she spake to her pages three:
"Now pray the Mermaiden to speak with me!"
3 In came the Mermaid and stood by the board:
"What wilt thou, oh Queen, that thou sentest me word?"
4 The cushion of blue she smoothed and pressed:
"Tarry now, Mermaid, and take thy rest!"
5 "Wilt thou by leasing take my life?
Beneath lies hidden a whetted knife!"
6 "Knowest thou that, then knowest thou more,
Tell what the future hath in store!"
7 "Three sons of thee shall be born,
But thy young life is lost and lorn.
8 "Denmark the first shall have and hold,
The second shall wear a crown of gold.
9 "The third shall be so great on earth
That thou must die to give him birth."
10 She decked the Mermaid with pomp and pride,
She led her to the strand with all her maids beside.
11 Out swam the Mermaid into the deep,
But ever the Queen so sore did weep.
12 "Now weep not for words thou didst hear from me,
The gates of Heaven stand open for thee!"
From the Introduction:
"The Mermaid's Spaeing" (No. 10) has a deeper traditional foundation. A story well-known of old tells of a sea creature held captive by the King till it shall reveal where the treasures of the deep are hidden, but it makes no reply, and prophesies disaster to the royal family by way of farewell. This folk story forms the theme of the ballad, but has a different conclusion. The young Queen weeps over the coming misfortune, but the pitying Mermaid comforts her: "Now weep not for words thou didst hear from me, the gates of Heaven stand open for thee!" This strikes a note more definitely Christian than is often to be found in the ballads. It conveys the hope of mankind for salvation, and on the other hand, the vain yearning of Nature, the "groaning and travailing" spoken of by St. Paul, and frequently dwelt on by later poets. A change has come over the sentiments of ancient times; the former fear and hatred evolves into a pitying sympathy with the whole of creation.