Mermaids

thumb|right|O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note,To drown me in thy sister's flood of tears. Mermaids are mythological aquatic creatures with a female human head and torso and the tail of a fish. Mermaids are represented broadly in folklore, literature and popular culture. Quotes To aid your toils, to scatter death,Swift, as the sheeted lightning's force,When the keen north-wind's freezing breathSpreads desolation in its course,My soul within this icy sea,Fulfils her fearful destiny.Thro' Time's long ages I shall waitTo lead the victims to their fate;With callous heart, to hidden rocks decoy,And lure, in seraph-strains, unpitying, to destroy. Anne Bannerman, 'The Mermaid' (1800) O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note,To drown me in thy sister's flood of tears. William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors (c. 1592-94), Act III, scene 2, line 45. Since once I sat upon a promontory,And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's backUttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,That the rude sea grew civil at her song:And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,To hear the sea-maid's music. William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (c. 1595-96), Act II, scene 1, line 149. Who would beA mermaid fair,Singing alone,Combing her hairUnder the sea,In a golden curlWith a comb of pearl,On a throne? I would be a mermaid fair;I would sing to myself the whole of the day;With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;And still as I comb I would sing and say,"Who is it loves me? who loves not me?" Alfred Tennyson, The Mermaid; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 511. Slow sail'd the weary mariners and saw,Betwixt the green brink and the running foam,Sweet faces, rounded arms, and bosoms prestTo little harps of gold; and while they musedWhispering to each other half in fear,Shrill music reach'd them on the middle sea. Alfred Tennyson, The Sea Fairies; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 511. A mermaid found a swimming ladPicked him for her own,Pressed her body to his body,Laughed; and plunging downForgot in cruel happinessThat even lovers drown. William Butler Yeats, "A Man Young And Old: III. The Mermaid" (1926). I must be a mermaid... I have no fear of depths, and a great fear of shallow living. Anais Nin I think every little girl's dream is to be a mermaid or to see a mermaid. [When I was younger] I would go to the beach and cover myself in the sand. People from different cultures and centuries have the same idea of what mermaids are... so that's maybe a cool thing to think about. Emma Roberts Today's mermaids are fun-loving and friendly. The frightening, destroyer sirens of the past have been ousted in favor of pleasure-seeking playmates. Their youthful abandon, grace and sense of freedom invite us to lighten up. They remind us to enjoy life and glide through the waters of life, rather than struggling. Perhaps these bathing beauties are just what we need now to help us escape from the stress of the modern world and our anxiety about the future. Skye Alexander, Mermaids: The Myths, Legends & Lore (2012) External links Mermaid mermaid Category:Mythical creatures