Night falls, the wind roars
And whips the waves hither.
"I rather fear, my sweet child,
That we can no longer see land."
Thereupon the mermaid arose and said,
And said it concisely and freely:
"I never, beloved, told you
That the wedding would be on land.

I never said that a priest would
Speak his blessing over us upon the soil;
I never said that ours would be 
A residence upon the land."
""Where is the priest then, my child
If he is missing upon earth?""
"The waves shall roar the blessing
As soon as we are married."

""Where is your castle then, lovely maiden,
If it be not on the land?""
"My castle, it is in the depths down there
Built upon yellow sand,
Erected upon the keels of ships
And the skeletons of the drowned.
The fish are the game in my forest,
The waves enclose [my forest].

My castle is fenced by the blue wave
Upon the yellow sand of the sea;
There are flowers blooming in my garden
As they never bloom upon the land.
There I shall give you many fields
And meadows there under the sea;
No father gives to his son-in-law
So many goods [and estates].

In a short while the moon that sleeps
In the waves shall rise,
Then we shall descend into my castle
Quite fifty fathoms deep."
Wildly, wildly, the bridegroom screamed out,
Loudly, loudly, the bride laughed. --
The moon rose, they descended
And were married down below.