Oberon:

My gentle Puck, come hither.
Thou rememberest since
Once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering 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?

~ excerpt, A Midsummer Night's Dream

A nice little mermaid lived under the sea,
And always combing her hair was she.

She put it high up and she put it low down,
She twisted it in with a seashell crown;

She braided it and curled it for hours and hours,
And sprinkled it over with coral flowers.

But once she grew tired of combing her hair,
And fell to wondering what was where.

She climbed on a rock to talk with the gales,
And made great eyes at the sharks and whales.

Some white-winged gulls flew over her head;
'Now where can those things live?' she said.

She wondered and wondered, but couldn't guess where,
For she thought the whole world was water and air.

'And so many great ships sail over the sea;
Where they are going is what puzzles me!

They will get to the edge of the sea some day,
And tumble off in a terrible way.

There'll be no one to catch them, I'm afraid ---
So they'll tumble forever! said the little mermaid.

- The Little Mermaid, Carrie W. Thompson,
(adapted by JWK)