A fisherman sat on the lonely shore,

Mending his nets and sighing.

Far out to sea, a dolphin heard

The love song he was singing.

She swam like an arrow, straight and true

And out from the water did run.

No dolphin now! A woman fair,

Her hair from pure gold spun!

The fisherman’s heart beat fast with joy

And he set her on his knee.

She twined her arms around his neck.

‘I’ll marry you,’ said she.

He took her to his little house

High on the cliffs above.

She bore a child, a little boy,

And her heart was filled with love.

The summer passed, and the winter passed,

And the summer came once more.

The dolphin woman sighed and said,

‘My heart is weary and sore.

‘O, I am a woman on the land

And a dolphin in the sea.

A miraculous child, a magical child,

Is the son that is born to me.

‘I hear my people calling, calling,

And I must go back to the sea.

Though I love my man and my baby dear

They will never more see me.’