Andreas: The Legend of St. Andrew | Page 8

the bark
They went, bold, valiant men; the heart of each
350 Was filled with joy upon the tossing main.
Then Andrew, on the
rolling of the waves,
Begged for that seaman mercy from the King

Who rules in glory; thus he spake in words:--
"May God, the Lord of
men, give unto thee
Exceeding honor--happiness on earth,
Riches
in glory--since thou hast made known
Thy goodness to me on my
journeying!"
He sat him by the Guardian of the sea,
That noble
saint beside 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