Shakespeare's Mermaids

Oberon:

My gentle Puck, come hither.

Thou rememberest since

Once I sat upon a promontory,

And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back

Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath

That the rude sea grew civil at her song,

And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,

To hear the sea-maid's music?
A Midsummer Night's Dream -excerpt-