Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

Beware of the fairy! young Brincan beware!
Thy cheeks are like roses, and bright is thy hair;
Thy beauty hath charm'd her, beware of her spell;
She is calling thee down to her bright coral cell.
Look not in the water, for danger is there.
Row homeward, row homeward! young Brincan, beware!

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II

Her spell is upon him; like one who would leap
To the arms of a mistress, he dives in the deep;
Sweet harmonies hail him, he seems to repose
On an emerald pillow as downward he goes:
A fairy receives him—oh! what is so fair
As that beautiful being! Young Brincan beware!

III

Her hair is sea-green, but he heeds not its hue,
When he looks on her eyes of etherial blue.
He loves the fair sea-nymph, forgetting the worth
Of his own betroth'd maiden, the fairest on earth.
'Tis morn, and he leaves her, his boat is still there;
Row homeward, row homeward! Young Brincan, beware!

IV

The spell is dissolved; as he steps on the shore,
He seeks his betroth'd—but she loves him no more!
“Thy hair,” she exclaimed, “is as green as the sea,
And a web-footed man is no lover for me.”
'Tis thus with the fickle, who fond vows forswear,
For Fairy or Woman! so lovers beware!