On wintry nights the mariners sing
Of tales such as these
The sound of a fair maid crying
Carried on November’s breeze

On moonless nights along the shore
Where plaintive surf does sigh
A chill will set in the bones of those
Who hear her mournful cry

Beware good men who ride the waves
Should you hear young maiden fair
Set a new course for open sea
Lest frigid death find you there

She drifts alone on storm frothed waves
Icicle tears form round her eyes
Her frigid embrace a sailor’s death
When winters wrath fills the skies

Alas fair maid of the Hesperus
Her spirit a slave to the wretched sea
The deep no kind of resting place
For a beauty such as thee

Beware good men who ride the waves
Should you hear young maiden fair
Set a new course for open sea
Lest frigid death find you there

TL Boehm 2007

dedicated to Longfellow...