Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Cultural Geography, Nationalism, War

    A mermaid regards the submarine telegraph as 'an enchanted wire' connecting 'nations that were foes of yore'. It is an invention that lies among the relics of 'wars of hoary centuries' and sends 'an electric breath / Warm like the grasp of a friendly hand'. Believes a 'kindly spirit guides its aim' and that there is 'language in that social flame', by which France and England can talk. The 'sea-sprites' sporting along the wire sing the mermaid's song for Anglo-French harmony.