Andreas: The Legend of St. Andrew | Page 8

his noble Lord.?I never heard men tell of comelier ship 360 Laden with sumptuous treasures. In it sat?Great heroes, glorious lords, and beauteous thanes.?Then spake the ever-living noble Lord,?Almighty King; he bade his angel go,?His glorious retainer, go and give?Meat to the desolate to comfort him?Upon the seething flood, that he might bear?The life upon the rushing of the waves?With greater ease. Then was the ocean[1] stirred?And deeply troubled, then the horn-fish played, 370 Shot through the raging deep; the sea-gull gray,?Greedy for slaughter, flew in circling flight.?The candle of the sky grew straightway dark,?The winds waxed strong, the waves whirled, and the surge?Leapt high, the ropes creaked, dripping with the waves;?The Terror of the waters rose, and stood?Above them with the might of multitudes.?The thanes were sore afraid, not one of them?Dared hope that he would ever reach the land,?Of those who by the sea had sought a ship?With Andrew, for as yet they did not know 380 Who pointed out the course for that sea-bark.
[Footnote 1: Lit. "whale-sea."]
When he had eaten, then the faithful thane,?Saint Andrew, thanked the noble Counselor,?Upon the ocean, on the oar-swept sea:--?"For this repast may God, the righteous Lord,?Ruler of hosts, who sheds the light of life,?Grant thee reward, and give thee for thy food?The bread of heaven, e'en as thou hast shown?Good will and kindness to me on the deep. 390 My thanes, these warriors young, are sore afraid;?Loud roars the raging, overwhelming sea;?The ocean is all troubled, deeply moved;?And weary is my band, my company?Of valiant-hearted men, afflicted sore."?The Lord of men gave answer from the helm:--?"Our ship shall bear us back across the flood?Unto the land, and there thy men can wait?Upon the shore until thou come again." 400 Straightway those men gave answer unto him,?Thanes much-enduring; they would not consent?To leave alone upon the vessel's prow?Their master dear, and choose themselves the land.?"O whither shall we turn us, lordless men,?Mourning in heart, forsaken quite by God,?Wounded with sin, if we abandon thee??We shall be odious in every land,?Hated of every folk, when sons of men,?Courageous warriors, in council sit 410 And question which of them did best stand by?His lord in battle, when the hand and shield,?Worn out by broadswords on the battle-plain,?Suffered sore danger in the sport of war."
Then spake the noble Lord, the faithful King;?Straightway He lifted up His voice and said:--?"If, as thou sayst, thou art indeed a thane?Of Him who sits enthroned in majesty,?All-glorious King, expound His mysteries,?How 'neath the sky He taught speech-uttering men. 420 Long is this journey o'er the fallow flood;?Comfort the hearts of thy disciples; great?Is yet our way across the ocean-stream,?And land is far to seek; the sea is stirred,?The waves beat on the shore. Yet easily?Can God give aid to men who sail the deep."
Then Andrew wisely stablished by his words?His followers, those heroes glorious:--?"Ye did consider when ye put to sea?That ye would bear your life unto a folk 430 Of foemen; ye would suffer death for love?Of God, would give your life within the realm?Of dark-skinned Ethiopians. I know?Myself that there is One who shieldeth us,?The Maker of the angels, Lord of hosts.?Rebuked and bridled by the King of might,?The Terror of the waters shall grow calm,?The leaping sea. So once in days of yore?Within a bark upon the struggling waves?We tried the waters, riding on the surge,?And very fearful seemed the sad sea-roads. 440 The ocean-floods beat fierce against the shores;?Oft wave would answer wave; and whiles upstood?From out the ocean's bosom, o'er our ship,?A Terror on the breast of our sea-boat.?There on that ocean-courser bode His time?The glorious God, Creator of mankind,?Almighty One. The men were filled with fear,?They sought protection, mercy from the Lord.?And when that company began to call,?The King straightway arose, and stilled the waves, 450 The seething of the waters--He who gives?Bliss to the angels; He rebuked the winds;?The sea subsided, and the boundaries?Of ocean-stream grew calm. Then laughed our soul,?When under heaven's course our eyes beheld?The winds and waves and Terror of the deep?Affrighted by the Terror of the Lord.?Therefore I say to you in very sooth,?The ever-living God does not forsake?A man on earth, if courage fail him not." 460
Thus spake the holy champion, wise of heart,?He taught his thanes, that blessed warrior;?He stablishèd his men, till suddenly?Sleep came upon them weary by the mast.?The sea grew still, the onset of the waves?Turned back again, rough tumult of the flood.?Then was the soul of that brave saint rejoiced,?After that time of terror; wise in wit,?In counsel prudent, he began to speak?And thus unlocked the treasure of his words:-- 470 "I never found a better mariner,?More skilled than thou in sea-craft, as I think,?A stouter oarsman, one more wise in words,?Sager in counsel. I will beg of thee?Yet one more boon,