Poems by the Way | Page 9

the crown of the
deeds thou hast done;
And the roses spring up by thy feet
that the
rocks of the wilderness wore.
Ah! when thy Balder comes back
and
we gather the gains he hath won,
Shall we not linger a little
to talk
of thy sweetness of old,
Yea, turn back awhile to thy travail
whence
the Gods stood aloof to behold?
THE RAVEN AND THE KING'S DAUGHTER.
King's daughter sitting in tower so high,
Fair summer is on many a
shield.
Why weepest thou as the clouds go by?
Fair sing the swans
'twixt firth and field.
Why weepest thou in the window-seat
Till the
tears run through thy fingers sweet?
The King's Daughter.
I weep because I sit alone
Betwixt these walls of lime and stone.

Fair folk are in my father's hall,
But for me he built this guarded wall.

And here the gold on the green I sew
Nor tidings of my true-love
know.
The Raven.
King's daughter, sitting above the sea,
I shall tell thee a tale shall
gladden thee.
Yestreen I saw a ship go forth
When the wind blew
merry from the north.
And by the tiller Steingrim sat,
And O, but
my heart was glad thereat!
For 'twixt ashen plank and dark blue sea


His sword sang sweet of deeds to be.
The King's Daughter.
O barren sea, thou bitter bird,
And a barren tale my ears have heard.
The Raven.
Thy father's men were hard thereby
In byrny bright and helmet high.
The King's Daughter.
O worser waxeth thy story far,
For these drew upon me bolt and bar.

Fly south, O fowl, to the field of death
For nothing sweet thy grey
neb saith.
The Raven.
O, there was Olaf the lily-rose,
As fair as any oak that grows.
The King's Daughter.
O sweet bird, what did he then
Among the spears of my father's men?
The Raven.
'Twixt ashen plank and dark blue sea,
He sang: My true love waiteth
me.
The King's Daughter.
As well as this dull floor knows my feet,
I am not weary yet, my
sweet.
The Raven.
He sang: As once her hand I had,
Her lips at last shall make me glad.

The King's Daughter.
As once our fingers met, O love,
So shall our lips be fain thereof.
The Raven.
He sang: Come wrack and iron and flame,
For what shall breach the
wall but fame?
The King's Daughter.
Be swift to rise and set, O Sun,
Lest life 'twixt hope and death be
done.
The Raven.
King's daughter sitting in tower so high,
A gift for my tale ere forth I
fly,
The gold from thy finger fair and fine,
Thou hadst it from no
love of thine.
The King's Daughter.
By my father's ring another there is,
I had it with my mother's kiss.

Fly forth, O fowl, across the sea
To win another gift of me.
Fly
south to bring me tidings true,
Fair summer is on many a shield.
Of
the eve grown red with the battle-dew,
Fair sing the swans 'twixt firth
and field.
The Raven.
King's daughter sitting in tower so high,
Fair summer is on many a
shield.
Tidings to hearken ere thou die,
Fair sing the swans 'twixt
firth and field.
In the Frankish land the spear points met,
And wide
about the field was wet.
And high ere the cold moon quenched the
sun,
Blew Steingrim's horn for battle won.
The King's Daughter.

Fair fall thee fowl! Tell tidings true
Of deeds that men that day did
do.
The Raven.
Steingrim before his banner went,
And helms were broke and byrnies
rent.
The King's Daughter.
A doughty man and good at need;
Tell men of any other's deed?
The Raven.
Where Steingrim through the battle bore
Still Olaf went a foot before.
The King's Daughter.
O fair with deeds the world doth grow!
Where is my true-love gotten
now?
The Raven.
Upon the deck beside the mast
He lieth now, and sleepeth fast.
The King's Daughter.
Heard'st thou before his sleep began
That he spake word of any man?
The Raven.
Methought of thee he sang a song,
But nothing now he saith for long.
The King's Daughter.
And wottest thou where he will wend
With the world before him
from end to end?

The Raven.
Before the battle joined that day
Steingrim a word to him did say:

"If we bring the banner back in peace,
In the King's house much shall
my fame increase;
Till there no guarded door shall be
But it shall
open straight to me.
Then to the bower we twain shall go
Where thy
love the golden seam doth sew.
I shall bring thee in and lay thine
hand
About the neck of that lily-wand.
And let the King be lief or
loth
One bed that night shall hold you both."
Now north belike runs
Steingrim's prow,
And the rain and the wind from the south do blow.
The King's Daughter.
Lo, fowl of death, my mother's ring,
But the bridal song I must learn
to sing.
And fain were I for a space alone,
For O the wind, and the
wind doth moan.
And I must array the bridal bed,
Fair summer is
on many a shield.
For O the