V

Still in my dreams I hear the mermaid singing; The mermaid music at its portal ringing; The mermaid song, that hinged with gold its door, And, whispering evermore, Hushed the ponderous hurl and roar And vast æolian thunder Of the chained tempests under The frozen cataracts that were its floor.-- And, blinding beautiful, I still behold The mermaid there, combing her locks of gold, While at her feet, green as the Northern Seas, Gambol her flocks of seals and walruses; While, like a drift, her dog,--a Polar bear,-- Lies by her, glowering through his shaggy hair.