Said the little mer-girls to the big mermaid
“We want to be big like you!
With longer tails, and shinier scales,
And hair more wavy and blue!”

Said the little mer-girls to the big mermaid,
“We want to have golden combs!”
And waver and swing and float and sing,
Where the shore-wave breaks and foams!”

Said the little mer-girls to the big mermaid,
“We want to have mirrors too!
And sing to the sailors, the fishers and whalers,
And carry them down like you!”

Said the big mermaid to the little mer-girls,
“O dear little sisters—be young!
For we weary of foam, of glass and of comb,
And the sailors are drowned when we carry them home—
When the songs are over and sung!”