Laid out in those places
Whereupon those highland sons and daughters
Go to the shore of an unseen ocean
And where the waves of land subside
A mermaid remains on the shore
Behind her is a brooding shoal
Where only an ancient song is heard
Bearing up the purest of crescent moons
In this right-facing pose she goes off to sleep
In the clear-aired wind
In a hazy rain-shower
She is enveloped in thin mist
She is enwreathed in white clouds
Whether at tranquil daybreak
Or in enchanting twilight
All else turns to chilled sculpture
Only her left arm floats free
Its skin surely gives off warmth
Its veins surely flow with blood
In this right-facing pose she goes off to sleep
How like a mermaid she is
How like a crescent moon
How like a brooding shoal
She sleeps between land and sky
She sleeps on the heights of birth and death
Only thus do rivers keep flowing beneath her
Only thus do forests keep growing beneath her
Only thus do boulders keep standing beneath her
Only thus do my sweet, suffering people
Keep weeping and shouting and singing
In this right-facing pose she goes off to sleep
All things in the world will fade away
In the vast vault of heaven
In undying memory
Only her left arm still floats
So tender, so beautiful and free