Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For today’s blog post, I am sharing my line-by-line analysis of the short poem The Mermaid by William Butler (W.B.) Yeats!   I have accessed the text of the poem on https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/mermaid-10#google_vignette.   As a brief sidenote, the version of this poem that I am using was published in A Man Young and Old, which is in the Public Domain.   It is always important to me that I only use full texts of poems (even for analysis) that are Public Domain works, so I wanted to note that!   As always, with my analysis posts, the sections in bold are my analysis and notes.   Without further ado, let’s look at this classic poem by this great folklore poet!    

The Mermaid

by William Butler Yeats

A mermaid found a swimming lad, 

~The beginning of the poem states that the Mermaid found a man while swimming.   This is a common theme in Mermaid folktales and fairytales, that she finds a young man whom she is attracted to while he is at Sea in some capacity.    Sometimes she rescues him, but we will see this is not one of those times!

Picked him for her own, 

~The Mermaid decided that she wanted the young man and that she would keep him as her own in the Sea.   This desire to possess the man she is attracted to is likely a statement on the traditional view of Mermaids as incredibly sexual.

Pressed her body to his body, 

~This line further shows the sexual allure of the Mermaid, as she seeks to seduce the man she has become attracted to.   Her allure is something that the Mermaid can use to draw the man in.   

Laughed; and plunging down 

~This line is very short and only gives a partial description that the Mermaid is incredibly joyful that she has taken this man for her own, as she laughs while she is taking him beneath the waves to be with her.

Forgot in cruel happiness 

~We now know for sure that this story will not end well for the man who is the object of this Mermaid’s desire.   For she is not thinking about his safety at all, only her wants, desires, and likely lusts!   This definitely shows the cruelty that many thought the Mermaid possessed at the time when the poem was written, and is based on folkloric accounts.

That even lovers drown. 

~In the final line, we get a hint that the Mermaid may have held at least a small amount of affection for the man, with the use of the term lovers.   However, it does not negate the fact that she has drowned the man that she sought to make fall in love with her, leading to a tragic end.   This could even be a bit of a cautionary tale for men, reminding them of the dangers of the Sea and using the Mermaid as a metaphor for said dangers!   I want to finish by stating that in many ways, this poem reads to me as the antithesis of the film Splash, given that this Mermaid also seeks a human lover, but instead of gifting him the ability to breathe underwater, the Mermaid of the poem allows him to drown.

~I hope you have enjoyed my analysis of this poem by Yeats.   I truly think, even as short as it is, the poem is very evocative.   Do you enjoy this poem?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a digital painting created by the artist Selina Fenech.   I found the art on https://selinafenech.com/art-advice/developing-a-concept-with-digital-painting/.

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