Michael Healy 
The Day of the Mermaid and Other Poems 

An early spring morning . . . a young man fi shing in arock-pool at the edge of the sea and exulting in his catch. . . a voice calling suddenly to him . . . the voice of a youngwoman who is slowly walking out from the waves . . . I beg you, let it free again.
Th is is the setting for Th e Day of the Mermaid, a storyof the awakened love of that young man for the maidenwho appears before him, recounted when he is old andlooking back upon the day when his heart was forevercaptured and forever broken a lyrical and romantic talein gentle, sensitive and poignant verse:
Why are you thus so sad? said I.Why do you grieve for such a thing?Is not the ocean full with fi sh?Is one worth so much sorrowing?Th en, from her lips, there came a sigh, And, in her voice, I heard the sea:Yes, even one is dear to me.