Page:Poems - Tennyson (1843) - Volume 1 of 2.djvu/83

 We would run to and fro, and hide and seek, On the broad sea-wolds i' the crimson shells, Whose silvery spikes are nighest the sea. But if any came near I would call, and shriek, And adown the steep like a wave I would leap From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells; For I would not be kiss'd by all who would list, Of the bold merry mermen under the sea; They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me, In the purple twilights under the sea; But the king of them all would carry me, Woo me, and win me, and marry me, In the branching jaspers under the sea; Then all the dry pied things that be In the hueless mosses under the sea Would curl round may silver feet silently, All looking up for the love of me. And if I should carol aloud, from aloft All things that are forked, and homed, and soft Would lean out from the hollow sphere of the sea, All looking down for the love of me.