Lorelei

Her beauty will be your end.

Here swims

within the waters of the Rhine river

the enchanting, yet deadly, Lorelei,

a maiden of the Rhine river.

Her sisters and she frolic in the Rhine,

singing with voices high and clear.

She was human once

and in love with a man.

Thus, she threw herself

from a cliff and into the Rhine,

her romance forbidden.

There the lovely lady drowned,

now a lingering spirit.

 

A glittering girl with hair gilded gold,

she sits there on the rocks combing her hair.

Singing, her voice sweeter than an angel’s,

she draws sailors close to her.

As they die, she embraces them

to her pale flesh in the water.

As Lorelei watches them drown with sharp

and cruel blue eyes, she sings to them a haunting

melody to dull their misery.

 

The cruel nixie releases

the victim’s corpse into the river.

The Rhine swallows them with a

satisfied sigh.

Lorelei continues to sing her sweetest.

If, by chance, a curious stranger

happens upon her, they would hear

the enthralling tune of the maiden Lorelei.

She will seduce you with those dangerous

eyes of sapphire and draw you into her

embrace to die.

Author's Note

Lorelei is a mythological nixie, or water spirit, who lives in the Rhine river in Germany. It was said that, after being chased and cornered against a cliff of the Rhine, she leaped to her death and became a nixie. The myth originates from the echoing falls of the Rhine.

For reference, the nixie is synonymous to the Greek siren, the Western mermaid, and the Irish seelie. Written for a school assignment four years ago. The assignment was to pick a mythological creature and write a poem for and draw a picture of it.

Reviews

[quinfinn]

"and tiny purple fishes run laughing through her fingers and you want to take her with you to the heartland of the winter" this poem reminds me of "tales of brave Ulysses" by the rock band cream. excellent piece! i absolutely loved this poem!