The Neckan

In summer, on the headlands,The Baltic Sea along,Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,And sings his plaintive song.

Green rolls, beneath the headlands,Green rolls the Baltic Sea;And there, below the Neckan's feet,His wife and children be.

He sings not of the ocean,Its shells and roses pale:Of earth, of earth, the Neckan sings,He hath no other tale.

He sits upon the headlands,And sings a mournful staveOf all he saw and felt on earth,Far from the kind sea-wave.

Sings how, a knight, he wanderedBy castle, field, and town;But earthly knights have harder heartsThan the sea-children own.

Sings of his earthly bridal,Priest, knights, and ladies gay."And who art thou," the priest began,"Sir Knight, who wedd'st to-day?"

"I am no knight," he answered;"From the sea-waves I come."The knights drew sword, the ladies screamed,The surpliced priest stood dumb.

He sings how from the chapelHe vanished with his bride,And bore her down to the sea-halls,Beneath the salt sea-tide.

He sings how she sits weeping'Mid shells that round her lie."False Neckan shares my bed," she weeps;"No Christian mate have I."

He sings how through the billowsHe rose to earth again,And sought a priest to sign the cross,That Neckan heaven might gain.

He sings how, on an evening,Beneath the birch-trees cool,He sate and played his harp of gold,Beside the river-pool.

Beside the pool sate Neckan,Tears filled his mild blue eye.On his white mule, across the bridge,A cassocked priest rode by.

"Why sitt'st thou there, O Neckan,And play'st thy harp of gold?Sooner shall this my staff bear leaves,Than thou shalt heaven behold."

But, lo! the staff, it budded;It greened, it branched, it waved."O ruth of God!" the priest cried out,"This lost sea-creature saved!"

The cassocked priest rode onwards,And vanished with his mule;And Neckan in the twilight grayWept by the river-pool.

He wept, "The earth hath kindness,The sea, the starry poles;Earth, sea, and sky, and God above,—But, ah! not human souls!"

In summer, on the headlands,The Baltic Sea along,Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,And sings this plaintive song.