“The Mermaid” 

She had probably come out of the sea right then, Her hair and her lips Smelling of the sea till daybreak, Her breasts with their own ebb and tide. She was poor, I know- But you can’t talk of poverty all the time - She softly sang into my ear Her songs of love. Who knows how much she had seen and learned  During a life spent cheek by jowl with the sea, Mending the nets, casting them and pulling them out, Making fishing lines, cutting bait, cleaning the boat. Her hands were prickly fish When they stroked mine. I saw that night - I saw it in her eyes How wonderful is dawn out on the high seas; Her hair taught me all about the waves: I kept rocking in dreams. ~ Turkish poet Orhan Veli (1914-1950) 

A Mermaid (painting, study, and details) ~ 1900 ~ John William Waterhouse (English artist, 1849-1917)