Blue as ocean is her sparkling eye

In the exotic city of Granada, Spain Hans Christian Andersen encounters his muse in the dark of evening, in the form of a young Roma woman. The meeting, as Andersen recounts it in his travel book, likely never took place, since it does not appear in his diaries! Nevertheless, this perhaps imaginary experience inspires Andersen to write the poem 'Blue as Ocean is Her Sparkling Eye'. In the poem, it is said that “her hair was like the skin of the black slug of the woods.” Anyone who has been captivated by the deep black hair color that some Spaniards possess will recognize how poetically apt this description is!

The video is from a rehearsal in Salamanca, Spain for the performative concert 'The Mirror of the Sun' by Ballhaus and Via Artis Konsort.
However, the slug is from Kohaveskoven in Odense, Denmark!

Below a translation by Anne S. Bushby, (a contemporary with Hans Christian Andersen) who was also the translator of many of Andersens fairy tales.

The entire poem:

Yes - blue as ocean is her sparkling eye,
But like the wood-snail’s skin, her hair is dark;
And through that speaking eye well may one mar
The thoughts that deep within her bosom lie.
She is as fresh as is a luscious grape -
A fountain full of kisses are her lips.
But he who from that fount unwisely sips
Finds that for him there can be no escape.
Gazing on her a vision o’er me stole -
We sat the bright pomegranate trees among
Whose glowing fruit and blossoms o’er us hung,
And her melodious voice entranced my soul!