There was once an awful quarrel—
As fierce as fierce could be
Between a land-boy on the land,
And a mer-boy on the sea.

Said the land-boy to the mer-boy,
“I wouldn't have a tail like you!”
Said the mer-boy to the land-boy,
“I wouldn't be split in two!”

Said the land-boy to the mer-boy,
“I can run and jump and climb,
And I can dive and swim besides—
But you swim all the time!”

Said the mer-boy to the land-boy,
“You can only breathe in air,—
And you drown beneath the water,
But I breath everywhere!”

“On the land you just move sideways,
Sticking to earth so brown—
In the water, blue and lovely,
“ I can travel up and down !”

Then the land-boy pelted him with dirt—
A thing a mer-boy loathes;
So he ducked the land-boy in the surf,
And spoiled his Sunday clothes.”