s: Were out of tune now, for a small brown bird


s: Sings overhead, and through the long cool grass


s: I see that throbbing throat which once I heard


s: On starlit hills of flower-starred Arcady,


s: Once where the white and crescent sand of Salamis meets sea.


s: Sweet is the swallow twittering on the eaves


s: At daybreak, when the mower whets his scythe,


s: And stock-doves murmur, and the milkmaid leaves


s: Her little lonely bed, and carols blithe


s: And sweet the hops upon the Kentish leas,


s: And sweet the wind that lifts the new-mown hay,


s: And sweet the fretful swarms of grumbling bees


s: That round and round the linden blossoms play;


s: And sweet the heifer breathing in the stall,


s: And the green bursting figs that hang upon the red-brick wall,


s: And sweet to hear the cuckoo mock the spring


s: While the last violet loiters by the well,


s: And sweet to hear the shepherd Daphnis sing


s: And the slight lithe-limbed reapers dance about the wattled fold.


s: It was a dream, the glade is tenantless,


s: The Thames creeps on in sluggish leadenness,


s: And from the copse left desolate and bare


s: Yet still from Nuneham wood there comes that thrilling melody


s: So sad, that one might think a human heart


s: Which music sometimes has, being the Art


s: Poor mourning Philomel, what dost thou fear?


s: Thy sister doth not haunt these fields, Pandion is not here,


s: Here is no cruel Lord with murderous blade,


s: But mossy dells for roving comrades made,


s: Warm valleys where the tired student lies


s: With half-shut book, and many a winding walk


s: Where rustic lovers stray at eve in happy simple talk.


s: The harmless rabbit gambols with its young


s: Across the trampled towing-path, where late


s: A troop of laughing boys in jostling throng


s: Cheered with their noisy cries the racing eight;


s: The gossamer, with ravelled silver threads,


s: Works at its little loom, and from the dusky red-eaved sheds


s: Of the lone Farm a flickering light shines out


s: Where the swinked shepherd drives his bleating flock


s: Back to their wattled sheep-cotes, a faint shout


s: Comes from some Oxford boat at Sandford lock,


s: And starts the moor-hen from the sedgy rill,


s: And the dim lengthening shadows flit like swallows up the hill.


s: The blue mist creeps among the shivering trees,


s: Gold world by world the silent stars appear,


s: And like a blossom blown before the breeze


s: A white moon drifts across the shimmering sky,


s: Mute arbitress of all thy sad, thy rapturous threnody.


s: She does not heed thee, wherefore should she heed,


s: 'Tis I, 'tis I, whose soul is as the reed


s: Which has no message of its own to play,


s: Drifting with every wind on the wide sea of misery.


s: Ah! the brown bird has ceased:  one exquisite trill


s: About the sombre woodland seems to cling


s: So still that one might hear the bat's small wing


s: Wander and wheel above the pines, or tell


s: Each tiny dew-drop dripping from the bluebell's brimming cell.


s: And far away across the lengthening wold,


s: Across the willowy flats and thickets brown,


s: Magdalen's tall tower tipped with tremulous gold


s: Marks the long High Street of the little town,


s: And warns me to return; I must not wait,


s: Hark ! 't is the curfew booming from the bell at Christ Church


s: Sweet, I blame you not, for mine the fault


s: I had climbed the higher heights unclimbed


s: yet, seen the fuller air, the larger day.


s: From the wildness of my wasted passion I had


s: Lit some lighter light of freer freedom, battled


s: Had my lips been smitten into music by the


s: You had walked with Bice and the angels on


s: I had trod the road which Dante treading saw


s: Ay! perchance had seen the heavens opening,


s: And the mighty nations would have crowned


s: me, who am crownless now and without name,


s: And some orient dawn had found me kneeling


s: I had sat within that marble circle where the


s: And the pipe is ever dropping honey, and the


s: Keats had lifted up his hymeneal curls from out


s: With ambrosial mouth had kissed my forehead,


s: And at springtide, when the apple-blossoms


s: Two young lovers lying in an orchard would


s: Would have read the legend of my passion,


s: Kissed as we have kissed, but never parted as


s: For the crimson flower of our life is eaten by


s: And no hand can gather up the fallen withered


s: Yet I am not sorry that I loved you - ah!


s: For the hungry teeth of time devour, and the


s: Rudderless, we drift athwart a tempest, and


s: Without lyre, without lute or chorus, Death


s: And within the grave there is no pleasure,


s: And Desire shudders into ashes, and the tree


s: And less dear the Cytheraean rising like an


s: poems, and, though youth is gone in wasted days,


s: I have found the lover's crown of myrtle better


s: recent investigations go to show that Kurenberg was indebted to


s: the "Nibelungen" strophe for the form of his lyric, and not the


s: Just when the legend emigrated to Skandinavia we do not know, but


s: The second source of the Siegfried story is the so-called


s: therefore of minor importance as a source.


s: "Nibelungenlied" stops with the death of the Nibelungs.


s: however, but for another. The exchange of forms on the part of


s: As to the fight with the dragon, Boer believes that it did not


s: unnatural in the extreme, for she had reigned there ten years or


s: The second half of the tale, the destruction of the Nibelungs,


s: is treated of very briefly in the early Norse versions, but the


s: "Nibelungenlied", which knows so little of Siegfried's youth, has


s: Let us pass now to the consideration of the strophic form of the


s: "Nibelungenlied". The two Danish ballads of "Grimhild's Revenge"


s: Uns ist in alten maeren   wunders vil geseit


s: von heleden lobebaeron,   von grozer arebeit,


s: von froude und hochgeziten,   von weinen und von klagen,


s: von kuener recken striten   muget ir nu wunder hoeren sagen.


s: Ez wuochs in Burgonden   ein edel magedin,


s: daz in allen landen   niht schoeners mohte sin,


s: Kriemhild geheizen;   si wart ein scoene wip,


s: darambe muosen degene   vil verliesen den lip.


s: Der minneclichen meide   triuten wol gezam,


s: ir muotten kuene recken,   niemen was ir gram,


s: ane ma zen schoene   so was ir edel lip;


s: der iunevrouwen tugende   zierten anderiu wip.


s: Ir pilagen drie kilnege   edel unde rich,


s: Ganther ande Geruot,   die recken lobelieh,


s: und Giselher der iunge,   ein uz erwelter degen,


s: diu frouwe was ir swester,   die fu'rsten hetens in ir


s: Die herren waren milte,   von arde hohe erborn,


s: mit kraft unmazen kuene,   die recken uz erkorn,


s: dazen Burgonden   so was ir lant genant,


s: si framden starkiu wunder   sit in Etzelen lant.


s: Ze Wormze bidem Rine   si wenden mit ir kraft,


s: in diende von ir landen   stolziu ritterscaft


s: mit lobelichen eren   unz an ir endes zit,


s: sit sturben si inemerliche   von zweier edelen frouwen nit.


s: The language of the "Nibelungenlied" is the so-called Middle High


s: (1)  A is a parchment MS. of the second half of the thirteenth


s: century, now found in Munich.  It forms the basis of


s: Lachmann's edition.  It is a parchment MS. of the middle of


s: the thirteenth century, belonging to the monastery of St.


s: Gall.  It has been edited by Bartsch, "Deutsche Klassiker


s: des Mittelalters", vol. 3, and by Piper, "Deutsche National-


s: Literatur", vol. 6.  C is a parchment MS., of the thirteenth


s: century, now in the ducal library of Donauesehingen.  It is


s: the best written of all the MSS., and has been edited by


s: (2)  The "Thidreksaga" differs from the other Norse versions in


s: having "Sigfrod", as he is called here, brought up in


s: ignorance of his parents, a trait which was probably


s: borrowed from the widespread "Genoveva" story, although


s: thought by some to have been an original feature of our


s: (3)  The "Thidreksaga", which has forgotten the enmity of the


s: brothers, and calls Sigurd's tutor "Mimr", tells the episode


s: in somewhat different fashion.  The brothers plan to kill


s: Sigurd, and the latter is attacked by the dragon, while


s: burning charcoal in the forest.  After killing the monster


s: with a firebrand, Sigurd bathes himself in the blood and


s: thus become covered with a horny skin, which renders him


s: invulnerable, save in one place between the shoulder blades,


s: which he could not reach.  This bathing in the blood is also


s: related in the Seyfrid ballad and in the "Nibelungenlied",


s: with the difference, that the vulnerable spot is caused by a


s: (4)  The fact that all but one of these names alliterate, shows


s: that the Norse version is here more original.  Gunnar is the


s: same as Gunther (Gundaharius), Hogni as Hagen; Gutthorm


s: (Godomar) appears in the German version as Gernot.  In this


s: latter the father is called Danerat, the mother Uote, and


s: the name Grimhild is transferred from the mother to the


s: (5)  In the prose "Edda", in the water which drips from Gudrun's


s: Full many a wonder is told us in stories old, of heroes worthy of


s: Three kings, noble and puissant, did nurture her, Gunther (4) and


s: Thus in her heart Kriemhild forsware all love. Many a happy day


s: (1)  "Nibelungenlied", the lay of the Nibelungs.  The ordinary


s: etymology of this name is 'children of the mist'


s: ("Nebelkinder", O.N. "Niflungar"), and it is thought to have


s: belonged originally to the dwarfs.  Piper, I, 50, interprets


s: it as 'the sons of Nibul'; Boer, II, 198, considers


s: "Hniflungar" to be the correct Norse form and interprets it


s: as 'the descendants of Hnaef' (O.E. "Hnaef", O.H.G.


s: "Hnabi"), whose death is related in the "Finnsaga".


s: "adventura").  The word meant originally a happening,


s: especially some great event, then the report of such an


s: event.  Here it is used in the sense of the different cantos


s: or "fitts" of the poem, as in the "Gudrun" and other M.H.G.


s: epics.  Among the courtly poets it also frequently denotes


s: the source, or is the personification of the muse of poetry.


s: (3)  "Kriemhild" is the Upper German form of the Frankish


s: "Grimhild".  In the MSS., the name generally appears with a


s: further shifting as "Chriemhilt", as if the initial


s: consonant were Germanic "k".  On the various forms of the


s: name, which have never yet been satisfactorily explained,


s: (4)  "Gunther" is the historical "Gundahari", king of the


s: (5)  "Gernot" was probably introduced by some minstrel in place


s: of the historical "Godomar", who appears in the Norse


s: version as "Gutthormr", though the names are not


s: etymologically the same, as "Godomar" would be "Guthmarr" in


s: (6)  "Giselher" is the historical "Gislaharius".  Although


s: mentioned by the "Lex Burgundionum" as one of the Burgundian


s: kings, he does not appear in the early Norse version, or in


s: other poems dealing with these persons, such as the


s: "Waltharius", the "Rabenschlacht", the "Rosengarten", etc.,


s: and was probably introduced at a late date into the saga.


s: Originally no role was ascribed to him, and not even his


s: death is told.  He probably came from some independent


s: (7)  "Etzel" is the German form for the historical "Attila"


s: (Norse "Atli").  A discussion of his connection with the


s: (8)  "Worms" is the ancient "Borbetomagus", which in the first


s: century B.C. was the chief city of the German tribe of the


s: "Vangioni".  In the fifth century it was the capital of the


s: Burgundian kingdom, but was destroyed by the Huns.  The


s: Merovingians rebuilt it, and in the seventh century it


s: became a bishopric where Charlemagne at times held his


s: court.  It was later noted as the meeting-place of many


s: imperial diets.  It remained a free city till 1801.  In the


s: "Thidreksaga" the name is corrupted into "Wernize".


s: (9)  "Uta" (M.H.G. "Uote").  The name means ancestress, and is


s: frequently used for the mother of heroes.  The modern German


s: form is "Ute", but in order to insure its being pronounced


s: with two syllables, the form "Uta" was chosen.


s: (10) "Dankrat" (M.H.G. "Dancrat") appears as the father only in


s: the "Nibelungenlied" and poems dependent on it, e.g., the


s: "Klage" and "Biterolf", elsewhere as "Gibiche" (Norse


s: (11) "Hagen of Troneg".  Troneg is probably a corruption of the


s: name of the Latin colony, "colonia Trajana", on the Lower


s: Rhine, which as early as the fifth century was written as


s: "Troja", giving rise to the legend that the Franks were


s: descended from the ancient Trojans.  "Troja" was then


s: further corrupted to "Tronje" and "Tronege".  Hagen was


s: therefore originally a Frank and had no connection with the


s: Burgundian kings, as the lack of alliteration also goes to


s: show.  Boer thinks that not Siegfried but Hagen originally


s: lived at Xanten (see note 3 to Adventure II), as this was


s: often called Troja Francorum. When the Hagen story was


s: connected with the Burgundians and Hagen became either their


s: brother or their vassal, his home was transferred to Worms


s: and Siegfried was located at Xanten, as he had no especial


s: localization.  Thus Siegfried is never called Siegfried of


s: Troneg, as is Hagen.  Other attempts to explain Troneg will


s: (12) "Dankwart" is not an historical character nor one that


s: belonged to the early form of the legend.  He may have come


s: from another saga, where he played the principal role as


s: Droege (ZsfdA. 48, 499) thinks.  Boer considers him to be


s: Hagen's double, invented to play a part that would naturally


s: fall to Hagen's share, were he not otherwise engaged at the


s: moment.  In our poem he is called "Dancwart der snelle", a


s: word that has proved a stumbling-block to translators,


s: because in modern German it means 'speedy', 'swift'.  Its


s: original meaning was, however, 'brave', 'warlike', although


s: the later meaning is already found in M.H.G.  In all such


s: doubtful cases the older meaning has been preferred, unless


s: the context forbids, and the word 'doughty' has been chosen


s: (13) "Ortwin of Metz" appears also in the "Eckenlied",


s: "Waltharius", and in "Biterolf".  He is most likely a late


s: introduction (but see Piper, I, 44).  Rieger thinks that he


s: belonged to a wealthy family "De Metis".  Though the "i" is


s: long in the original, and Simrock uses the form "Ortewein"


s: in his translation, the spelling with short "i" has been


s: chosen, as the lack of accent tends to shorten the vowel in


s: (14) "Gere" is likewise a late introduction.  He is perhaps the


s: historical Margrave Gere (965) of East Saxony, whom Otto the


s: Great appointed as a leader against the Slavs.  See O. von


s: (15) "Eckewart" is also a late accession.  He is perhaps the


s: historical margrave of Meissen (1002), the first of the


s: name.  He, too, won fame in battle against the Slavs.


s: knightly minstrel, is hardly an historical personage, in


s: spite of the fact that Alzey is a well-known town in Rhine


s: Hesse on the Selz, eighteen miles southwest of Mainz.  The


s: town has, to be sure, a violin in its coat of arms, as also


s: the noble family of the same name.  It is most likely,


s: however, that this fact caused Folker to be connected with


s: Alzei.  In the "Thidreksaga" Folker did not play the role of


s: minstrel, and it is probable that some minstrel reviser of


s: our poem developed the character and made it the


s: (17) "Rumolt", "Bindolt", and "Hunolt" have no historical basis


s: and merely help to swell the retinue of the Burgundians.


s: (18) "Worship".  This word has been frequently used here in its


s: older meaning of 'worth', 'reverence', 'respect', to


s: the noble queen, for the love of her son, dealt out ruddy gold in


s: (1)  "Siegmund" (M.H.G. "Sigemunt") was originally the hero of an


s: (2)  "Siegelind" (M.H.G. "Sigelint") is the correct name of


s: Siegfried's mother, as the alliteration shows.  The Early


s: Norse version has "Hjordis", which has come from the "Helgi


s: (3)  "Xanten" (M.H.G. "Santen" from the Latin "ad sanctos") is at


s: Dusseldorf.  It does not now lie on the Rhine, but did in


s: (4)  "Sword-thanes" (M.H.G. "swertdegene") were the young squires


s: youthful prince to receive the accolade with a number of


s: (5)  "Midsummer festival".  The M.H.G. "sunewende" means


s: literally the 'sun's turning', i.e., the summer solstice.


s: This was one of the great Germanic festivals, which the


s: church later turned into St. John's Eve.  The bonfires still


s: burnt in Germany on this day are survivals of the old


s: (6)  "Hurtling" translates here M.H.G. "buhurt", a word borrowed


s: from the French to denote a knightly sport in which many


s: knights clashed together.  Hurtling was used in older


s: building standing alone and largely used as a reception


s: (9)  "To-shivered", 'broken to pieces', in imitation of the older


s: (10) "Spangles" (M.H.G. "spangen"), strips of metal radiating


s: from the raised centre of the shield and often set, as here,


s: ADVENTURE III. How Siegfried Came to Worms.


s: Tidings of this reached Siegmund's ear; through the talk of the


s: "What would the king of me?" asked Hagen.


s: (1)  "Guest" translates here the M.H.G. "gest", a word which may


s: mean either 'guest' or 'stranger,' and it is often


s: difficult, as here, to tell to which meaning the preference


s: (2)  "Eleven" translates the M.H.G. "selbe zwelfte", which means


s: one of twelve.  The accounts are, however, contradictory, as


s: a few lines below mention is made of twelve companions of


s: (4)  "Known".  It was a mark of the experienced warrior, that he


s: was acquainted with the customs and dress of various


s: countries and with the names and lineage of all important


s: personages.  Thus in the "Hildebrandslied" Hildebrand asks


s: Hadubrand to tell him his father's name, and adds: "If thou


s: tellest me the one, I shall know the other."


s: (5)  "Schilbung" and "Nibelung", here spoken of as the sons of a


s: mighty king, were originally dwarfs, and, according to some


s: authorities, the original owners of the treasure.  Boer, ix,


s: transferred from Hagen to these dwarfs at a late stage in


s: (6)  "Angry of mood".  The reason of this anger is apparent from


s: the more detailed account in "Biterolf", 7801.  The quarrel


s: arose from the fact that, according to ancient law,


s: Siegfried acquired with the sword the rights of the first


s: born, which the brothers, however, refused to accord to him.


s: (7)  "Balmung".  In the older Norse version and in the


s: "Thidreksaga" Siegfried's sword bore the name of Gram.


s: (8)  "Alberich" is a dwarf king who appears in a number of


s: legends, e.g., in the "Ortnit saga" and in "Biterolf".


s: Under the Romance form of his name, "Oberon", he plays an


s: (9)  "Cloak of Darkness".  This translates the M.H.G.


s: "tarnkappe", a word often retained by translators.  It is


s: formed from O.H.G. tarni, 'secret' (cf. O.E. "dyrne"), and


s: "kappe" from late Latin "cappa", 'cloak'.  It rendered the


s: wearer invisible and gave him the strength of twelve men.


s: ADVENTURE IV. How He Fought with the Saxons. (1)


s: Then spake King Gunther: "For this I'll serve you ever."


s: "So bid me call a thousand of your men, since of mine own I have


s: Liudegast, the warrior, then was led away by Siegfried's might to


s: (1)  "Saxons".  This war with the Saxons does not appear in the


s: poetic "Edda", but was probably introduced into the story


s: later to provide the heroes with a suitable activity in the


s: period elapsing between Siegfried's marriage and the journey


s: to Brunhild's land.  (In our poem it is placed before the


s: marriage.)  It reflects the ancient feuds between the Franks


s: on the one hand and the Saxons and Danes on the other.


s: Originally Siegfried probably did not take part in it, but


s: was later introduced and made the leader of the expedition


s: in place of the king, in accordance with the tendency to


s: idealize him and to give him everywhere the most important


s: role.  The two opposing leaders are "Liudeger", lord of the


s: Saxons, and "Liudegast", king of Denmark.  In "Biterolf"


s: Liudeger rules over both Saxons and Danes, and Liudegast is


s: (2)  "Fey".  This Scotch and older English word has been chosen


s: to translate the M.H.G. "veige", 'fated', 'doomed', as it is


s: etymologically the same word.  The ancient Germans were


s: fatalists and believed only those would die in battle whom


s: (3)  "Thirty thousand".  The M.H.G. epics are fond of round


s: numbers and especially of thirty and its multiples.  They


s: will be found to occur very frequently in our poem.  See


s: (4)  "Their".  The original is obscure here; the meaning is,


s: 'when he heard with what message they were come, he rued the


s: (5)  "Marks of gold".  A mark (Lat. "mares") was half a pound of


s: ADVENTURE V. How Siegfried First Saw Kriemhild.


s: One saw daily riding to the Rhine those who would fain be at the


s: Liudegast, the Saxon chief, was now cured of his wounds and had


s: "Whither would ye ride now, noble Siegfried? Pray tarry with the


s: ADVENTURE VI. How Gunther Fared To Isenland (1) for Brunhild.


s: "Be still," spake Siegfried, "ye little know her strength."


s: "Weeds of the very best which can be found are worn all times in


s: Then spake King Gunther: "Who shall be the captain of the ship?"


s: (1)  "Isenland" translates here M.H.G. "Islant", which has,


s: however, no connection with Iceland in spite of the


s: agreement of the names in German.  "Isen lant", the reading


s: of the MSS. BJh, has been chosen, partly to avoid confusion,


s: and partly to indicate its probable derivation from


s: "Isenstein", the name of Brunhild's castle.  Boer's


s: interpretation of "Isen" as 'ice' finds corroboration in


s: Otfrid's form "isine steina" ('ice stones', i.e. crystals)


s: I, 1. 70.  Isenstein would then mean Ice Castle.  In the


s: "Thidreksaga" Brunhild's castle is called "Saegarthr" ('Sea


s: Garden'), and in a fairy tale (No. 93 of Grimm) "Stromberg",


s: referring to the fact that it was surrounded by the sea.


s: Here, too, in our poem it stands directly on the shore.


s: (2)  "Zazamanc", a fictitious kingdom mentioned only here and a


s: few times in Parzival, Wolfram probably having obtained the


s: name from this passage.  (See Bartsch, "Germanistische


s: (3)  "Wont to wear".  In the Middle Ages costly furs and


s: fish-skins were used as linings and covered, as here


s: described, with silk or cloth.  By fish such amphibious


s: animals as otter and beaver were often meant.


s: (4)  "Well fit".  In this passage "wert", the reading of A and D,


s: (6)  "Brunhild".  The following words are evidently a late


s: interpolation, and weaken the ending, but have been


s: translated for the sake of completeness.  They are spoken by


s: ADVENTURE VII. How Gunther Won Brunhild.


s: At this Sir Siegfried spake: "I pray you, spy secretly among the


s: Siegfried, the bold, went to the king and bade him tell the queen


s: When Gunther knew that it was Siegfried, he was overjoyed.


s: (1)  "Palaces".  See Adventure III, note 7.


s: (2)  "Surcoat", which here translates the M.H.G. "wafenhemde", is


s: (3)  "Azagouc".  See Zazamanc, Adventure VI, note 2.  This


s: strophe is evidently a late interpolation, as it contradicts


s: (4)  Weights.  The M.H.G. "messe" (Lat. "masse") is just as


s: indefinite as the English expression.  It was a mass or lump


s: of any metal, probably determined by the size of the


s: "My name is Siegfried," he replied; "I deemed ye knew me well."


s: From their beds they sprang and were ready in a trice. A thousand


s: Early on a morn they started on their way. What a speedy journey


s: To this Dankwart, King Giselher's liegeman, answered: "Most noble


s: (1)  Adventure VIII.  This whole episode, in which Siegfried


s: fetches men to aid Gunther in case of attempted treachery on


s: Brunhild's part, is of late origin and has no counterpart in


s: the older versions.  It is a further development of


s: Siegfried's fight in which he slew Schilbung and Nibelung


s: and became the ruler of the Nibelung land.  The fight with


s: Alberich is simply a repetition of the one in the former


s: (3)  "Knobs", round pieces of metal fastened to the scourge.


s: (4)  "Cunning" is to be taken here in the Biblical sense of


s: 'knowing'.  The M.H.G. "listig" which it here translates,


s: denotes 'skilled' or 'learned' in various arts and is a


s: (5)  "Mulled wine" translates M.H.G. "lutertranc", a claret


s: mulled with herbs and spice and left to stand until clear.


s: ADVENTURE IX. How Siegfried Was Sent To Worms.


s: Then spake the daring knight: "Now give me an envoy's guerdon, ye


s: Then spake the courtly maid: "It shall be done." She bade her


s: (1)  "Fillets" were worn only by married women.


s: (2)  "Ferran", a gray colored cloth of silk and wool; from O.F.


s: (3)  "Clasps" or "brooches" were used to fasten the dresses in


s: ADVENTURE X. How Brunhild Was Received At Worms.


s: The king had seated him with Brunhild, the maid, when she espied


s: But whatsoever the king might say, she remained full sad of mood.


s: Gunther believed full well what Siegfried spake.


s: The Lord Siegfried sate in loving wise by his fair wife, in bliss


s: "schapel" or "schapelin") or wreath was the headdress


s: especially of unmarried girls, the hair being worn flowing.


s: It was often of flowers or leaves, but not infrequently of


s: gold and silver.  (See Weinhold, "Deutsche Frauen im


s: ADVENTURE XI. How Siegfried Journeyed Homeward With His Wife.


s: It was loth to Siegfried, when he heard this from Kriemhild. The


s: The son of Siegmund spake to the princes, as he heard and saw the


s: (1)  "Eckewart", see Adventure I, note 15.


s: (2)  "Xanten", see Adventure II, note 3.


s: (4)  "Dames", i.e., Siegelind and Kriemhild.


s: ADVENTURE XII. How Gunther Bade Siegfried To The Feasting.


s: "That will I," said the prince. "I will let thirty of my men ride


s: Siegfried's land. With the consent of the kinsmen of the king the


s: Spake Then the valiant Siegfried: "They be welcome to us."


s: Quoth the stalwart Siegfried: "That might hardly hap."


s: All who craved it were given steeds and vesture, too.


s: Then to the margrave spake the noble queen: "Now tell me, cometh


s: "She cometh to you surely," quoth Gere, the knight.


s: (1)  "Norway".  The interpolated character of the Adventures XI


s: to XIII, which are not found in the earlier versions, is


s: shown by the confusion in the location of Siegfried's court.


s: The poet has forgotten that Xanten is his capital, and


s: locates it in Norway.  No mention is made, however, of the


s: messengers crossing the sea; on the contrary, Kriemhild


s: speaks of their being sent down the Rhine.


s: ADVENTURE XIII. How They Journeyed To The Feasting.


s: "That will I gladly," quoth she, "for I have good cause to be her


s: When that the ruler of the land spied Siegfried and Siegmund, how


s: At this spake Gunther: "Now hath joy happed to me thereby."


s: ADVENTURE XIV. How The Queens Reviled Each Other.


s: On a day before the vesper tide a great turmoil arose, which many


s: Kriemhild replied: "Now dost thou see, how he standeth, how right


s: The ladies both grew wonderly wroth of mood. Then spake the Lady


s: To this Kriemhild replied: "In faith that shall be done."


s: "Whom callest thou here leman?" spake the queen.


s: "I' faith," spake then Brunhild, "Gunther shall hear of this."


s: Both ladies now had fallen into grievous wrath.


s: Quoth King Gunther: "Then hath she done ill."


s: King Gunther spake: "Have him come hither. He must let us hear if


s: Netherland." One bade fetch at once Kriemhild's love.


s: When Siegfried saw the angry dames (he wist not of the tale), how


s: Then King Gunther spake: "It doth rue me sore, forsooth. My Lady


s: They bade the proud Burgundians form a ring. Siegfried, the bold,


s: Then spake King Gunther: "How might that chance?"


s: ADVENTURE XV. How Siegfried Was Betrayed.


s: Quoth Lord Siegfried: "Ye shall have small care."


s: "That will I well, dear my lady," Hagen then replied.


s: (1)  "Brach", 'hunting dog', cognate with M.H.G. "braeke", used


s: Gunther and Hagen, the passing bold knights, faithlessly let cry


s: wine. Unless men purvey the hunters better, I'll be no more your


s: hunting-fellow. I have well deserved that they regard me, too."


s: "So let us try it then," quoth Hagen, the knight.


s: (1)  "Lion."  It is hardly necessary to state that lions did not


s: roam at large in the forests of Germany.  They were,


s: however, frequently exhibited in the Middle Ages, and the


s: poet introduced one here to enhance Siegfried's fame as a


s: (2)  "Ure-oxen", the auerochs, or European bison, now practically


s: (3)  "Shelk" (M.H.G. "schelch"), probably a species of giant


s: (4)  "Fragrance".  It was believed that the odor of the panther


s: attracted the game.  Compare the description of the panther


s: in the older "Physiologus", where the odor is said to


s: (5)  "Otter" translates here M.H.G. "ludem", whose exact


s: connotation is not known.  Some interpret it to meau the


s: fish otter, others the "Waldschrat", a kind of faun.


s: (6)  "Balmung", see Adventure III, note 7.


s: (7)  "Spessart wood" lies forty to fifty miles east of Worms and


s: is therefore too distant for a day's hunt, but such trifles


s: (8)  "Mulled wine", see Adventure VIII, note 5.


s: (9)  "Feet".  This was probably done as a handicap.  The time


s: consumed in rising to his feet would give his opponent quite


s: Quoth the knights: "That shall be done."


s: (1)  "Bleed".  This was not only a popular superstition, but also


s: not been discovered, or if any one was suspected.  The


s: suspected person was requested to approach the bier and


s: touch the body, in the belief that the blood would flow


s: afresh if the one touching the body were guilty.  Our


s: passage is the first instance of its mention in German


s: The usage was also known in France and England.  See the


s: instances quoted by Jacob Grimm in his "Rechtsaltertumer",


s: ADVENTURE XVIII. How Siegmund Journeyed Home Again.


s: Then answered the hapless wife: "Of that hath Kriemhild need."


s: orphaned. When your son groweth up, he will comfort your heart.


s: Meanwhile many bold heroes and good shall serve you."


s: When they marked that she would not go hence, then wept all of


s: ADVENTURE XIX. How The Nibelung Hoard Was Brought to Worms.


s: "I trow not," spake Hagen, "that it will ever hap."


s: Many of Alberich's kinsmen journeyed with Gernot hence. When they


s: Spake then Hagen: "Let me be the guilty one."


s: Few of their oaths were kept. From the widow they took the mighty


s: (1)  "Marriage morning gift" was the gift which it was customary


s: for the bridegroom to give the bride on the morning after


s: the bridal night.  On this custom see Weinhold, "Deutsche


s: (2)  "A1berich", see Adventure III, note 8.  It is characteristic


s: (3)  "Wishing-rod", a magic device for discovering buried


s: treasure.  Cf. Grimm, "Deutsche Mythologie," ii, 813.


s: (4)  "Loche", according to Piper, is the modern "Locheim" in the


s: ADVENTURE XX. How King Etzel (1) Sent To Burgundy For Kriemhild.


s: Quoth the margrave: "That doth like me well."


s: On the seventh morning the host and his warriors rode forth from


s: "How can I believe," spake at once the king, "that the lord of


s: With this speech Hagen, the passing stately knight, agreed.


s: Said Hagen: "Never will I give you this advice."


s: Gloomy of mood grew Hagen when he heard these words. Gernot and


s: The others noted well her unwilling mood.


s: The bold knights and good must needs obey.


s: Quoth the margrave: "For this, my lady, I am ready."


s: Rudeger with all his vassals swore that he would ever serve her


s: Of this fair Kriemhild pledged her hand before the knights.


s: daughter of king "Oserich" or "Osantrix", as the


s: "Thidreksaga" calls him.  In the latter work (chap. 73-80)


s: we read how Rudeger (Rodingeir) took her by force from her


s: father and brought her to Etzel to be the latter's bride.


s: On her identity with the historical "Kerka" of Priscus, see


s: (3)  "Rudeger of Bechelaren", or, as the name reads in the


s: "Thidreksaga", "Rodingeir of Bakalar", is probably not an


s: historical personage, but the hero of a separate legend.


s: Evidence of this is seen in the fact that he calls himself


s: an exile, though he is Etzel's mightiest vassal, with


s: castles and lands in fief.  He may have been introduced, as


s: Wilmanns ("Anz." xviii 101) thinks, to play a role


s: originally assigned to Dietrich, who is also an exile.


s: Mullenhoff considered him to have been a mythical person.


s: Bechelaren, or Pechlarn, lies at the junction of the Erlach


s: (4)  "hast seen here".  "Biterolf", 9471, relates that Dietrich


s: had carried Siegfried, when young, by force to Etzel's


s: (5)  "full soon".  See Adventure III, note 4.


s: (6)  "Paynim" (O F. "paienime", late Latin "paganismus"),


s: (7)  "gold for offerings".  This was the gold to be used as


s: offering when masses were sung for Siegfried's soul.


s: ADVENTURE XXI. How Kriemhild Journeyed To The Huns.


s: Let now the messengers ride. We will do you to wit, how the queen


s: The steeds were harnessed and led before the castle of Bechelaren


s: To the Traisem (11) they escorted hence the guests. Rudeger's men


s: (1)  "Vergen" is the modern Pforing, below Ingolstadt.  A ferry


s: across the river existed here from ancient times.


s: (2)  "Pilgrim", or "Pilgerin", as he is variously called, is an


s: historical personage.  He was bishop of Passau from 971 to


s: (3)  "Enns" (M.H.G. "Ens") is one of the tributaries of the


s: Danube, flowing into it about eleven miles southeast of


s: (4)  "Efferding" (M.H.G. "Everdingen") is a town on the Danube,


s: (5)  "Traun" (M.H.G. "Trune") is a river of Upper Austria,


s: (6)  "Truncheons", see Adventure II, note 8.


s: (7)  "Botelung's son" is Attila, who is so called in our poem, in


s: version "Atli" is the son of "Budli".  (On this point see


s: (8)  "Medelick" is the modern Molk, or Melk, a town on the Danube


s: granite cliff on which stands a famous Benedictine abbey.


s: (9)  "Astolt" appears only in this passage; nothing else is known


s: (10) "Mantern" is situated at the influx of the Flanitz, opposite


s: (11) "Traisem", Traisen, is a tributary of the Danube in Lower


s: (12) "Zeisenmauer" (M.H.G. "Zeizenmure").  All the MSS. but C and


s: "treisem moure", which corresponds better to the modern


s: name, as Zeiselmauer lies between Tulln and Vienna.  It is


s: possible, however, that the town on the Traisem was


s: originally called Zeiselmauer, as the road leading from


s: Traismauer to Tulln still bears the name of Zeiselstrasse.


s: ADVENTURE XXII. How Etzel Made Kriemhild His Bride.


s: All the while that Etzel stood at Kriemhild's side, the youthful


s: From thence tidings came to Etzelburg, (13) at which both men and


s: When that the king with his wife rode from the shore, the noble


s: (1)  "Kiev" (M.H.G. "Kiew") is now a government in the


s: southwestern part of Russia.  Its capital of the same name,


s: situated on the Dnieper, is the oldest of the better known


s: cities of Russia, and in the latter Middle Ages was an


s: important station of the Hanseatic league.


s: (2)  "Petschenegers", a Turkish tribe originally dwelling to the


s: north of the Caspian.  By conquest they acquired a kingdom


s: extending from the Don to Transylvania.  They were feared


s: for their ferociousness and because they continually invaded


s: the surrounding countries, especially Kiev.


s: (3)  "Tulna" (M.H.G. "Tulne") is the modern Tulln, a walled town


s: of Lower Austria, seventeen milos northwest of Vienna on the


s: (4)  "Ramung and Gibeck" (M.H.G. "Gibeche") appear only in our


s: (5)  "Hornbog" is frequently mentioned in the "Thidreksaga", but


s: (6)  "Hawart" is perhaps identical with the Saxon duke Hadugot,


s: who is reputed to have played an important part in the


s: conquest of Thuringia.  He evidently comes from the Low


s: (7)  "Iring" is considered by Wilmanns to have been originally an


s: "Iringi".  He occurs in a legend of the fall of the


s: Thuringian kingdom, where he played such a prominent role


s: that the Milky Way was named after him.  See W. Grimm,


s: "Heldensage", p. 394, who thinks, however, that the


s: connection of Iring with the Milky Way is the result of a


s: (8)  "Irnfried" is considered to be Hermanfrid of Thuringia, who


s: was overthrown and killed in A.D. 535 by Theuderich with the


s: aid of the Saxons.  See Felix Dahn, "Urgeschichte", iii,


s: (9)  "Bloedel" is Bleda, the brother of Attila, with whom he


s: reigned conjointly from A.D. 433 to 445.  In our poem the


s: name appears frequently with the diminutive ending, as


s: (10) "Werbel and Swemmel", who doubtless owe their introduction


s: to some minstrel, enjoy special favor and are intrusted with


s: the important mission of inviting the Burgundians to Etzel's


s: court, an honor that would hardly be accorded to persons of


s: their rank.  Swemmel appears mostly in the diminutive form


s: (11) "Heimburg" lies on the Danube near the Hungarian border.


s: (12) "Misenburg" is the modern Wieselburg on the Danube,


s: twenty-one miles southeast of Pressburg.


s: (13) "Etzelburg" was later identified with the old part of


s: Budapest, called in German "Ofen", through the influence of


s: Hungarish legends, but, as G. Heinrich has shown, had no


s: definite localization in the older M.H.G. epics.  See


s: Bleyer, PB. Belt. xxxi 433 and 506.  The name occurs in


s: documents as late as the fifteenth century.


s: (14) "Herrat", the daughter of King "Nentwin" is frequently


s: mentioned in the "Thidreksaga" as Dietrich's betrothed.  She


s: (15) "Nentwin" is not found in any other saga, and nothing else


s: is known of him.  See W. Grimm, "Heldensage", 103.


s: ADVENTURE XXIII. How Kriemhild Thought To Avenge Her Wrongs.


s: Again the queen spake: "It hath been well told you, that I have


s: King Etzel answered: "On next midsummer's day."


s: "We'll do as ye command," spake then Werbel.


s: The queen bade them be brought secretly unto her bower, where she


s: (1)  "Ortlieb" is not historical, and in the "Thidreksaga"


s: Etzel's son is called Aldrian.  Bleyer, "Die germanischen


s: Elemente der ungarischen, Hunnensage", PB. Beit. xxxi, 570,


s: attempt to prove the identity of the names by means of a


s: form "Arda", giving on the one hand Hungarian "Aladar",


s: "Aldrian", on the other German "Arte", "Orte".


s: (2)  "Hungary".  According to the account in "Waltharius", Hagen


s: spent his youth as a hostage at Etzel's court.


s: ADVENTURE XXIV. How Werbel And Swemmel Brought The Message.


s: This none wist, till Hagen of Troneg saw them, who then spake to


s: Then spake Prince Giselher to the knight: "Sith ye know you to be


s: Then the queen went to where she saw the king. How lovingly Dame


s: (1)  "Hostage", i.e., he has never betrayed you to your enemies.


s: (2)  "Gran", royal free city of Hungary, on the right bank of the


s: ADVENTURE XXV. How The Lords All Journeyed To The Huns.


s: The noble Lady Uta then spake to her sons: "Pray tarry here, good


s: The ferryman replied: "This may not be. My dear lords have foes,


s: (1)  "a thousand and sixty".  This does not agree with the


s: account in Adventure XXIV, witere we read of a thousand of


s: Hagen's men, eighty of Dankwart's, and thirty of Folker's.


s: The nine thousand foot soldiers mentioned here are a later


s: interpolation, as the "Thidreksaga" speaks of only a


s: (2)  "Eastern Frankland", or East Franconia, is the ancient


s: province of "Franconia Orientalis", the region to the east


s: of the Spessart forest, including the towns of Fulda,


s: Wurzburg and Barnberg.  In "Biterolf" Dietlich journeys


s: through Eastern Frankland to the Danube.


s: (3)  "Swanfield" (M.H.G. "Swanevelde") is the ancient province of


s: (4)  "Gelfrat" is a Bavarian lord and the brother of "Else",


s: mentioned below.  Their father's name was also Else.


s: (5)  "Wise women", a generic name for all supernatural women of


s: German mythology.  While it is not specifically mentioned,


s: it is probable that the wise women, or mermaids, as they are


s: also called here, were 'swan maidens', which play an


s: important role in many legends and are endowed with the gift


s: of prophecy.  They appear in the form of swans, and the


s: strange attire of the wise women mentioned here refers to


s: the so-called swan clothes which they wore and which enabled


s: Hagen to recognize them as supernatural beings.  On bathing


s: they lay aside this garment, and he who obtains possession


s: of it has them in his power.  This explains their eagerness


s: to give Hagen information, if he will return their garments


s: to them.  For an account of them see Grimm's "Mythologie",


s: (6)  "Aldrian" is not an historical personage; the name is merely


s: 'ancestor', just as Uta means 'ancestress'.  In the


s: "Thidreksaga" Aldrian is the king of the Nibelung land and


s: the father of Gunther, Giselher, and Gernot, whereas Hagen


s: is the son of an elf by the same mother.


s: (7)  Else appears also in "Biterolf"; in the "Thidreksaga" he is


s: called "Elsung", the younger, as his father bore the same


s: (8)  "Amelrich" is the ferryman's brother.


s: (9)  "Spear".  It was the custom to offer presents on a spear


s: point, perhaps to prevent the recipient from treacherously


s: using his sword.  Compare the similar description in the


s: "Hildebrandslied", 37, where we are told that gifts should


s: (10) "Goods".  In the "Thidreksaga" the ferryman desires the ring


s: ADVENTURE XXVI (1) How Gelfrat Was Slain By Dankwart.


s: At this hold Dankwart spake: "I'll play the umpire here."


s: How loth it was to some when they heard this tale! They remained


s: (1)  "Adventure XXVI".  This adventure is a late interpolation,


s: as it is not found in the "Thidreksaga".  Originally the


s: river must be thought of as separating them from Etzel's


s: (2)  "Moering" (M.H.G. "Moeringen") lies between Pforing and


s: Ingolstadt.  In the "Thidreksaga" we are told that the


s: mermaids were bathing in a body of water called "Moere",


s: whereas in our poem they bathe in a spring.  This may be the


s: original form of the account and the form here contaminated.


s: (3)  "Eckewart", see Adventure I, note 15.  It will be remembered


s: stayed with her at Worms after Siegfried's death, and


s: finally journeyed with her to Etzel's court.  Originally he


s: must be thought of as guarding the boundary of Etzel's land.


s: Without doubt he originally warned the Burgundians, as in


s: the early Norse versions, where Kriemhild fights on the side


s: of her brothers, but since this duty was given to Dietrich,


s: he has nothing to do but to announce their arrival to


s: Rudeger.  His sleeping here may, however, be thought to


s: indicate that it was too late to warn Gunther and his men.


s: ADVENTURE XXVII. How They Came To Bechelaren.


s: Then spake the margrave: "Sith I have naught of castles, I will


s: When the margravine heard Hagen's speech, it minded her of her


s: (3)  "Nudung" was slain, according to the "Thidreksaga", chap.


s: Wielant, the smith, in the battle of Gronsport.  There,


s: chap. 369, he is Gotelind's brother, but in "Biterolf" and


s: ADVENTURE XXVIII. How The Burgundians Came To Etzel's Castle.


s: Sore abashed was King Etzel's wife, for bitterly she feared Sir


s: Quoth Hagen: "There will be help for that."


s: Thus the two brave men talked together. King Etzel saw this, and


s: (1)  "Hildebrand" is the teacher and armor bearer of Dietrich.


s: He is the hero of the famous "Hildebrandslied".


s: (2)  "Wolfhart" is Hildebrand's nephew.  In the "Thidreksaga" he


s: (3)  "Amelung land" is the name under which Dietrich's land


s: appears.  Theodorich, the king of the East Goths, belonged


s: (4)  "Feast".  That Kriemhild kissed only Giselher, who was


s: innocent of Siegfried's death, aroused Hagen's suspicions.


s: (5)  "Vassal".  No other account speaks of Aldrian as being at


s: Etzel's court.  He is probably confused here with his son,


s: for Hagen's stay with Etzel in various legends, as also in


s: (6)  "Walther of Spain" is Walther of Aquitania, a legendary


s: personage of whom the O.E. fragment "Waldere", the Latin


s: epic "Waltharius", a M.H.G. epic, and the "Thidreksaga"


s: tell.  He flees with Hildegund, the daughter of the


s: Burgundian King Herrich, from Etzel's court, as related


s: here, but has to fight for his life against overpowering


s: numbers, in the "Thidreksaga" against the pursuing Huns, in


s: the other sources against the Burgundians.  In both cases


s: Hagen is among his foes, but takes no part in the fight at


s: ADVENTURE XXIX. How Hagen Would Not Rise For Kriemhild.


s: Then the two worshipful warriors parted, Hagen of Troneg and


s: Sir Dietrich. Over his shoulder Gunther's liegeman gazed for a


s: When the lord of the Rhine had entered the hall, the mighty Etzel


s: (1)  "Scathful scathe" here imitates the M.H.G. "scaden


s: (2)  "Balmung", see Adventure III, note 7.


s: (3)  "friend... friendly".  This repetition occurs in the


s: (4)  "Irnfried", see Adventure XXII, note 8.


s: (5)  "Hawart" and "Iring", Adventure XXII, notes 6 and 7.


s: (6)  "Morat" (M.H.G. "moraz") from late Latin "moratum", mulberry


s: Etzel parted then full merrily from his guests. Men pressed the


s: Then the queen was told that her messengers had compassed naught.


s: (1)  "Arras", the capital of Artois in the French Netherlands.


s: In older English "arras" is used also for tapestry.


s: ADVENTURE XXXI. (1) How They Went To Church.


s: When they had worshiped God and would hence again, many a Hunnish


s: King Etzel was still sitting by the queen.


s: "That the fiddler did, Folker, the valiant minstrel."


s: This speech was also heard by Kriemhild, King Etzel's wife.


s: (1)  "Adventure XXXI".  This adventure is of late origin, being


s: found only in our poem.  See the introduction.


s: (2)  "Truncheons", see Adventure II, note 8.


s: (3)  "Schrutan".  This name does not occur elsewhere.  Piper


s: suggests, that perhaps a Scotchman is meant, as "Skorottan"


s: appears in the "Thidreksaga", chap. 28, as an ancient name


s: (4)  "Gibecke", "Ramung" and "Hornbog", see Adventure XXII, notes


s: (5)  "Nudung", see Adventure XXVII, note 3.


s: (6)  "Ortlieb".  In the "Thidreksaga" Etzel's son is called


s: Aldrian.  There, however, he is killed because he strikes


s: Hagen in the face, here in revenge for the killing of the


s: ADVENTURE XXXII (1) How Bloedel Was Slain.


s: Then men saw the warrior walk forth in full lordly wise. As the


s: (1)  Adventure XXXII.  The details of the following scenes differ


s: them will be found in the works of Wilmanns and Boer.


s: (2)  "Marriage morning gift" (M.H.G. "morgengabe") was given by


s: the bridegroom to the bride on the morning after the


s: sedere"), older English for an upper servant who brought on


s: ADVENTURE XXXIII. How The Burgundians Fought The Huns.


s: He called in answer: "Who hath done this deed?"


s: "Much it wondereth me," spake Hagen, "what the Hunnish knights be


s: When Gunther thus begged and bade in the stress of the fray, they


s: Of all the kinsmen of the Huns within the hall, not one of these


s: (1)  "Friendship" translates the M.H.G. "minne trinken" 'to drink


s: the idea of pouring out a libation to the gods.  Later it


s: assumed the form of drinking to the honor of God, of a


s: saint, or of an absent friend.  See Grimm, "Mythologie", p.


s: (2)  "Amelungs", see Adventure XXVIII, note 3.


s: (3)  "Wolfhart", see Adventure XXVIII, note 2.


s: ADVENTURE XXXIV. How They Cast Out The Dead.


s: money'), legal term for compensation paid for a man killed.


s: (2)  "Waska".  In "Biterolf" it is the name of the sword of


s: Walther of Wasgenstein and is connected with the old German


s: ADVENTURE XXXVI. How The Queen Gave Orders To Burn the Hall.


s: "Now unbind your helmets," spake the good Knight Hagen. "I and my


s: To this King Gunther answered: "Dire need constrained us; all my


s: Soon their shields were seen sticking full of darts that had been


s: ADVENTURE XXXVII. How Margrave Rudeger Was Slain.


s: Quoth she: "Bethink thee, Rudeger, of thy great fealty, of thy


s: constancy, and of thine oaths, that thou wouldst ever avenge mine


s: Said the margrave: "Seldom have I denied you aught."


s: Then Kriemhild spake again: "Most noble Rudeger, take pity on our


s: "That I should do by right," spake the youthful Giselher, "but if


s: Quoth the margrave: "Inly doth this grieve me."


s: (1)  "Parlous", older English for 'perilous'.


s: (2)  "Fey", 'doomed to death', here in the sense of 'already


s: (3)  "Strangers", i.e., those who are sojourning there far from


s: ADVENTURE XXXVIII. How All Sir Dietrich's Warriors Were Slain.


s: Then spake the noble champion: "I have good cause for wail. The


s: Burgundians have slain the good Sir Rudeger."


s: At this the men of Berne waxed passing wroth of mood. Wolfhart, a


s: Now of all the knights none was alive save the twain, Gunther and


s: (1)  "Helfrich" appears also in the "Thidreksaga", chap. 330,


s: where we are told that he was the bravest and courtliest of


s: (2)  "Master Hildebrand", see Adventure XXVIII, note 1.


s: (3)  "Siegstab" is Dietrich's nephew.  He also appears in the


s: (4)  "Wolfwin" is mentioned in the "Klage", 1541, as Dietrich's


s: (5)  "Wolfbrand" and "Helmnot" appear only here.


s: (6)  "Ritschart".   With the exception of Helfrich (see Above


s: note 1), these names do not occur elsewhere, though one of


s: ADVENTURE XXXIX. How Gunther And Hagen And Kriemhild Were Slain.


s: Then Sir Dietrich fetched himself his coat of mail, and Master


s: Hildebrand sprang in wrath towards Kriemhild. For fear of him she


s: (1)  "Waskstone", see Adventure XXXV, note 2.


s: (2)  "Fall".  The word "not", translated here "fall", means


s: really 'disaster', but as this word is not in keeping with


s: the style, "fall" has been chosen as preferable to 'need',


s: used by some translators.  The MS. C has here "liet" instead


s: (3)  The "Nibelungenlied" is continued by the so-called "Klage",


s: a poem written in short rhyming couplets.  As the name


s: indicates, it describes the lamentations of the survivors


s: over the dead.  The praises of each warrior are sung and a


s: messenger dispatched to acquaint Gorelind, Uta, and Brunhild


s: with the sad end of their kinsmen.  It closes with


s: Dietrich's departure from Etzel's court and his return home.


s: Although in one sense a continuation of our poem, the


s: "Klage" is an independent work of no great merit, being


s: excessively tedious with its constant repetitions.  A


s: reprint and a full account of it will be found in Piper's


s: A Selection from the work of contemporaneous American poets


s: "The Little Book of Modern Verse", as its name implies,


s: is not a formal anthology.  The pageant of American poetry


s: has been so often presented that no necessity exists


s: It is strictly, then, as a reflection of our own period,


s: they have apprehended, what new art they have evolved,


s: to include all of the poets who would naturally be included


s: in a more ambitious anthology.  In certain instances, also,


s: matters of copyright have deterred me from including those


s: by the late addition or elimination of poems, the idea has been


s: to differentiate the little volume from the typical anthology


s: by giving it a unity impossible to a larger collection.


s: As I came down from Lebanon.  [Clinton Scollard]


s: As in the Midst of Battle there is Room.  [George Santayana]


s: Ballade of my Lady's Beauty.  [Joyce Kilmer]


s: Be still.  The Hanging Gardens were a dream.  [Trumbull Stickney]


s: Da Boy from Rome.  [Thomas Augustine Daly]


s: A Caravan from China comes.  [Richard Le Gallienne]


s: The Eagle that is forgotten.  [Nicholas Vachel Lindsay]


s: "Grandmither, think not I forget".  [Willa Sibert Cather]


s: Grieve not, Ladies.  [Anna Hempstead Branch]


s: Harps hung up in Babylon.  [Arthur Colton]


s: He whom a Dream hath possessed.  [Shaemas O Sheel]


s: The Heart's Country.  [Florence Wilkinson]


s: Here is the Place where Loveliness keeps House.  [Madison Cawein]


s: I would I might forget that I am I.  [George Santayana]


s: Let me no more a Mendicant.  [Arthur Colton]


s: Little Gray Songs from St. Joseph's.  [Grace Fallow Norton]


s: Lord of my Heart's Elation.  [Bliss Carman]


s: Love came back at Fall o' Dew.  [Lizette Woodworth Reese]


s: Love knocks at the Door.  [John Hall Wheelock]


s: Love's Springtide.  [Frank Dempster Sherman]


s: De Massa ob de Sheepfol'.  [Sarah Pratt McLean Greene]


s: May is building her House.  [Richard Le Gallienne]


s: The Nightingale unheard.  [Josephine Preston Peabody]


s: Night's Mardi Gras.  [Edward J. Wheeler]


s: Of Joan's Youth.  [Louise Imogen Guiney]


s: Only of thee and me.  [Louis Untermeyer]


s: A Rhyme of Death's Inn.  [Lizette Woodworth Reese]


s: Song.  "For me the jasmine buds unfold".  [Florence Earle Coates]


s: That Day you came.  [Lizette Woodworth Reese]


s: There's Rosemary.  [Olive Tilford Dargan]


s: We needs must be divided in the Tomb.  [George Santayana]


s: When I am dead and Sister to the Dust.  [Elsa Barker]


s: When I have gone Weird Ways.  [John G. Neihardt]


s: When the Wind is low.  [Cale Young Rice]


s: The Wife from Fairyland.  [Richard Le Gallienne]


s: Sincere thanks are due to my friend Thomas S. Jones, Jr.,


s: Lord of my Heart's Elation.  [Bliss Carman]


s: And the racing winds that wheel and flee


s: And yonder flame where the marsh-flags grow


s: The star fleets tack and wheel and veer,


s: Or blind astray, does she make her sport


s: By her battened hatch I leaned and caught


s: And cried, "Give help!"  But they said, "Let be:


s: The alder-clump where the brook comes through


s: And hearts to take and keep to the end, --


s: Flash silver where the head-light gleams,


s: Fluid the world flowed under us:  the hills


s: Heaved us, aghast, to fresh horizons, seen


s: One rapturous instant, blind with flash of rills


s: And silver-rising storms and dewy stills


s: Of dripping boulders, till the dim ravine


s: Coverts grew loud with our tumultuous wills.


s: Then all of Nature's old amazement seemed


s: What Plato mused and Paracelsus dreamed?


s: Reply!"  And piercing us with ancient scan,


s: The shrill, primeval hawk gazed down -- and screamed.


s: He holds unshared the silence of the sky.


s: Far down his bleak, relentless eyes descry


s: The eagle's empire and the falcon's home --


s: Serene, he hears the broken tempest sigh


s: Where cold sierras gleam like scattered foam.


s: And least of all he holds the human swarm --


s: To make their dream and its fulfillment one,


s: When, poised above the caldrons of the storm,


s: Their hearts, contemptuous of death, shall dare


s: His roads between the thunder and the sun.


s: So hath he fallen, the Endymion of the air,


s: And so lies down in slumber lapped for aye.


s: Diana, passing, found his youth too fair,


s: She swung her golden moon before his eyes --


s: Dreaming, he rose to follow -- and ran -- and was away.


s: His foot was winged as the mounting sun.


s: Earth he disdained -- the dusty ways of men


s: Not yet had learned.  His spirit longed to run


s: With the bright clouds, his brothers, to answer when


s: The airs were fleetest and could give him hand


s: Into the starry fields beyond our plodding ken.


s: All wittingly that glorious way he chose,


s: And loved the peril when it was most bright.


s: And like an eagle topped the dropping height


s: Past peak and cliff pressed on, in glad, unerring flight.


s: Oh, when the bird lies low with golden wing


s: Bruised past healing by some bitter chance,


s: Still must its tireless spirit mount and sing


s: Of meadows green with morning, of the dance


s: On windy trees, the darting flight away,


s: And of that last, most blue, triumphant downward glance.


s: So murmuring of the snow:  "THE SNOW, AND MORE,


s: O GOD, MORE SNOW!" on that last field he lay.


s: Despair and wonder spent their passionate store


s: In his great heart, through heaven gone astray,


s: And early lost.  Too far the golden moon


s: Had swung upon that bright, that long, untraversed way.


s: Now to lie ended on the murmuring plain --


s: Ah, this for his bold heart was not the loss,


s: But that those windy fields he ne'er again


s: Might try, nor fleet and shimmering mountains cross,


s: His bitter woe had here its deep and piteous cause.


s: Dear toils of youth unfinished!  And songs unwritten, left


s: By young and passionate hearts!  O melodies


s: Clear-singing Schubert, boyish Keats -- with these


s: He roams henceforth, one with the starry band,


s: Still paying to fairy call and far command


s: His spirit heed, still winged with golden prophecies.


s: England, I stand on thy imperial ground,


s: I feel within my blood old battles flow --


s: The blood whose ancient founts in thee are found


s: Still surging dark against the Christian bound


s: Wide Islam presses; well its peoples know


s: Thy heights that watch them wandering below;


s: I think how Lucknow heard their gathering sound.


s: I turn, and meet the cruel, turbaned face.


s: England, 't is sweet to be so much thy son!


s: I feel the conqueror in my blood and race;


s: Last night Trafalgar awed me, and to-day


s: Gibraltar wakened; hark, thy evening gun


s: Thou art the rock of empire, set mid-seas


s: Between the East and West, that God has built;


s: Advance thy Roman borders where thou wilt,


s: While run thy armies true with His decrees.


s: Law, justice, liberty -- great gifts are these;


s: Watch that they spread where English blood is spilt,


s: Lest, mixed and sullied with his country's guilt,


s: The soldier's life-stream flow, and Heaven displease!


s: Two swords there are:  one naked, apt to smite,


s: Thy blade of war; and, battle-storied, one


s: Rejoices in the sheath, and hides from light.


s: Now westward, look, my country bids good-night --


s: Peace to the world from ports without a gun!


s: Of old it went forth to Euchenor, pronounced of his sire --


s: Reluctant, impelled by the god's unescapable fire --


s: To choose for his doom or to perish at home of disease


s: Polyides, the soothsayer, spake it, inflamed by the god.


s: Of his son whom the fates singled out did he bruit it abroad;


s: And Euchenor went down to the ships with his armor and men


s: And straightway, grown dim on the gulf, passed the isles


s: Why weep ye, O women of Corinth?  The doom ye have heard


s: Is it strange to your ears that ye make it so mournful a word?


s: Is he who so fair in your eyes to his manhood upgrew,


s: O weep not, companions and lovers!  Turn back to your joys:


s: The defeat was not his which he chose, nor the victory Troy's.


s: Not the falling proclaims the defeat, but the place of the fall;


s: And the fate that decrees and the god that impels through it all


s: Regard not blind mortals' divisions of slayer and slain,


s: But invisible glories dispense wide over the war-gleaming plain.


s: He whom a Dream hath possessed.  [Shaemas O Sheel]


s: He whom a dream hath possessed knoweth no more of doubting,


s: He whom a dream hath possessed knoweth no more of roaming;


s: And going, he comes, and coming he heareth a call and goes.


s: He whom a dream hath possessed knoweth no more of sorrow,


s: And a dream in a sea of doom sets surely the ultimate isles.


s: He whom a dream hath possessed treads the impalpable marches,


s: From the dust of the day's long road he leaps to a laughing star,


s: And rides God's battlefield in a flashing and golden car.


s: When along country roads You walk with me,


s: And my faith blossoms like the earliest tree


s: That shames the bleak world with its yellow sprays --


s: My faith revives, when through a rosy haze


s: The clover-sprinkled hills smile quietly,


s: Young winds uplift a bird's clean ecstasy . . .


s: For this, O God, my joyousness and praise!


s: But now -- the crowded streets and choking airs,


s: The squalid people, bruised and tossed about;


s: These, or the over-brilliant thoroughfares,


s: The too-loud laughter and the empty shout,


s: The mirth-mad city, tragic with its cares . . .


s: For this, O God, my silence -- and my doubt.


s: Before the solemn bronze Saint Gaudens made


s: To thrill the heedless passer's heart with awe,


s: And set here in the city's talk and trade


s: And hear the distant spring come up the land;


s: For all their gaze is fixed so stern ahead,


s: For all the fatal rhythm of their tread.


s: The land they died to save from death and shame


s: Trembles and waits, hearing the spring's great name,


s: And by her pangs these resolute ghosts are stirred.


s: Through street and mall the tides of people go


s: Heedless; the trees upon the Common show


s: No hint of green; but to my listening heart


s: And it is clear to my long-searching eyes


s: That love at last has might upon the skies.


s: A telltale patter drips from off the trees;


s: The air is touched with Southland spiceries,


s: Of pendant mosses where the live-oaks grow


s: Or had its will among the fruits and vines


s: Soon shall the Cape Ann children shout in glee,


s: Spying the arbutus, spring's dear recluse;


s: Hill lads at dawn shall hearken the wild goose


s: And on to where the Pictured Rocks are hung,


s: And yonder where, gigantic, wilful, young,


s: With restless violent hands and casual tongue


s: The Lakes shall robe them in ethereal sheen;


s: Of springing wheat shall vastly be outflung


s: Nor shall the primal gods lack sacrifice


s: More splendid, when the white Sierras call


s: And dance before the unveiled ark of the year


s: Sounding their windy cedars as for shawms,


s: That watch old sluggish glaciers downward creep


s: To fling their icebergs thundering from the steep,


s: The Lord hath sundered them; let them be sundered yet.


s: Wild love falls on me from these sculptured men;


s: By loving much the land for which they died


s: To soothe in praise of her its passionate mood


s: My country's goodliness, make sweet her name.


s: And pointest a slow finger at her shame?


s: Lies! lies!  It cannot be!  The wars we wage


s: Are noble, and our battles still are won


s: By justice for us, ere we lift the gage.


s: The proud republic hath not stooped to cheat


s: And scramble in the market-place of war;


s: Her forehead weareth yet its solemn star.


s: Here is her witness:  this, her perfect son,


s: This delicate and proud New England soul


s: Who leads despised men, with just-unshackled feet,


s: Up the large ways where death and glory meet,


s: To show all peoples that our shame is done,


s: That once more we are clean and spirit-whole.


s: Crouched in the sea-fog on the moaning sand


s: All night he lay, speaking some simple word


s: From hour to hour to the slow minds that heard,


s: Holding each poor life gently in his hand


s: Till each dark face shone mystical and grand


s: Great wine of battle wrath by God's ring-finger stirred.


s: Then upward, where the shadowy bastion loomed


s: Huge on the mountain in the wet sea light,


s: Whence now, and now, infernal flowerage bloomed,


s: Bloomed, burst, and scattered down its deadly seed, --


s: They swept, and died like freemen on the height,


s: Like freemen, and like men of noble breed;


s: By hasty and contemptuous hands were thrust


s: The fair-haired keeper of their love and trust.


s: Now limb doth mingle with dissolved limb


s: To flush the mountain laurel when she blows


s: And heart with crumbled heart climbs in the rose: --


s: The untaught hearts with the high heart that knew


s: This mountain fortress for no earthly hold


s: Of temporal quarrel, but the bastion old


s: Built by an unjust nation sheer and strong,


s: And bowing down before that equal shrine


s: Whereof his band and he were the most holy sign.


s: And instant tragic question from thine eye?


s: Whose careless lips in street and shop aver


s: As common tidings, deeds to make his cheek


s: Flush from the bronze, and his dead throat to speak?


s: Whose harp hath leave to threaten and to mourn


s: Is Whitman, the strong spirit, overworn?


s: Has Whittier put his yearning wrath away?


s: Though furtively the sunlight seems to grieve,


s: With sounds of nameless battle overseas;


s: Though when we turn and question in suspense


s: If these things be indeed after these ways,


s: And what things are to follow after these,


s: Fumble and fill their mouths with hollow phrase,


s: Intone their dull commercial liturgies --


s: I dare not yet believe!  My ears are shut!


s: Bidding us never sheathe our valiant sword


s: Till we have changed our birthright for a gourd


s: Of wild pulse stolen from a barbarian's hut;


s: May wield the driver's whip and grasp the jailer's keys.


s: Was it for this our fathers kept the law?


s: This crown shall crown their struggle and their ruth?


s: Soon to possess the mountain winds of truth,


s: Where aye before God's face his trumpets run?


s: And for the abject likeness of our heart


s: Shall some less lordly bird be set apart?


s: Some gross-billed wader where the swamps are fat?


s: Some gorger in the sun?  Some prowler with the bat?


s: We are our fathers' sons:  let those who lead us know!


s: Came up the tropic wind, "Now help us, for we die!"


s: Proud state with proud impassioned state conferred,


s: And at the lifting of a hand sprang forth,


s: Beautiful armies.  Oh, by the sweet blood and young


s: Shed on the awful hill slope at San Juan,


s: Who might have tasted girl's love and been stung


s: And starry griefs, now the spring nights come on,


s: But that the heart of youth is generous, --


s: Breathe on their chivalry no hint of stain!


s: Turn not their new-world victories to gain!


s: One least leaf plucked for chaffer from the bays


s: One jot of their pure conquest put to hire,


s: With clamor, in the glare and gaze of noon,


s: That insult deep we deeply will requite.


s: Will curse us from the lamentable coasts


s: The cup of trembling shall be drained quite,


s: With ashes of the hearth shall be made white


s: Our hair, and wailing shall be in the tent;


s: Blindness we may forgive, but baseness we will smite.


s: (So low, dear hearts, in poverty so low!)


s: (How rest ye there, how softly, safely rest!)


s: (Sweet-throat, come back!  O liquid, mellow throat!)


s: The brooding breast, the sun-bright eye,


s: O little buds all bourgeoning with Spring,


s: O little laughing blooms that lift and bless!


s: Blowing my dreams upon a swallow's wing;


s: You fill my heart with very wantonness --


s: O little buds all bourgeoning with Spring!


s: May is building her House.  [Richard Le Gallienne]


s: May is building her house.  With apple blooms


s: She is roofing over the glimmering rooms;


s: Of the oak and the beech hath she builded its beams,


s: And, spinning all day at her secret looms,


s: With arras of leaves each wind-swayed wall


s: May is building her house.  Of petal and blade,


s: Of the roots of the oak, is the flooring made,


s: With a carpet of mosses and lichen and clover,


s: And tender, traveling green things strayed.


s: Her windows, the morning and evening star,


s: May is building her house.  From the dust of things


s: She is making the songs and the flowers and the wings;


s: She is making the young year out of the old;


s: And the brown leaves spurned of November's feet


s: Here is the Place where Loveliness keeps House.  [Madison Cawein]


s: Here is the place where Loveliness keeps house,


s: Within a valley where the Springtime spills


s: Her firstling wind-flowers under blossoming boughs:


s: Where Summer sits braiding her warm, white brows


s: With bramble-roses; and where Autumn fills


s: Her lap with asters; and old Winter frills


s: With crimson haw and hip his snowy blouse.


s: Here you may meet with Beauty.  Here she sits


s: Tuning a wood-thrush flute, remote, unseen:


s: Or when the storm is out, 't is she who flits


s: From rock to rock, a form of flying spray,


s: Shouting, beneath the leaves' tumultuous green.


s: O brown brook, O blithe brook, what will you say to me


s: If I take off my heavy shoon and wade you childishly?


s: But, cool brook, but, quick brook, and what if I should float


s: White-bodied in your pleasant pool, your bubbles at my throat?


s: Made small white flames of tinkling glee.


s: O wild brook, O wise brook, I cannot come, alas!


s: I am but mortal as the leaves that flicker, float, and pass.


s: My body is not used to you; my breath is fluttering sore;


s: You clasp me round too icily.  Ah, let me go once more!


s: Would God I were a naiad-thing whereon Pan's music blew;


s: But woe is me! you pagan brook, I cannot stay with you!


s: Would rest the changing seasons through.


s: The Wife from Fairyland.  [Richard Le Gallienne]


s: Green leaves and silence and two eyes --


s: Home through the leaves, home through the dew,


s: That Day you came.  [Lizette Woodworth Reese]


s: Song.  "For me the jasmine buds unfold".  [Florence Earle Coates]


s: I feel the sap through the bough returning,


s: I love, and thoughts that sometime grieved,


s: My clouds arise all flushed with glory --


s: I have praised many loved ones in my song,


s: Before her shrine, to whom all things belong,


s: Perhaps the ripening future holds a time


s: One time she touched the cloud that kissed


s: When she first met my father.  Young incredibly,


s: Younger than spring, without the faintest trace


s: Upon the childlike earnestness and grace


s: (Or common beads made precious by their use)


s: Seem heavy for so slight a throat to wear;


s: But the low bodice leaves the shoulders bare


s: And half the glad swell of the breast, for news


s: That now the woman stirs within the girl.


s: On festivals and Lord's-day of the week,


s: Show all too matron-sober for the cheek, --


s: Which, now I look again, is perfect child,


s: Or no -- or no -- 't is girlhood's very self,


s: Moulded by some deep, mischief-ridden elf


s: But startling the close gazer with the sense


s: My spirit, that is none too strong to-day,


s: But powerless to stem the tide-race bright,


s: The vehement peace which drifts it toward the light


s: Hurriedly home to the exquisite heart of pain, --


s: And all is well, for I have seen them plain,


s: The unforgettable, the unforgotten eyes!


s: Across the blinding gush of these good tears


s: They shine as in the sweet and heavy years


s: The sunlit aura breathing myrrh and thyme,


s: Where the sore-stricken body made a clime


s: Gentler than May and pleasanter than rhyme,


s: Which suffered years ago the dreary change!


s: That these so dewy lips should be the same


s: And heard my harrowing half-spoken name,


s: A little ere the one who bowed above her,


s: Rose stoical, and we knew that she was dead.


s: Then I, who could not understand or share


s: The insults which time flings us for our proof,


s: The shrill satiric fields ghastly with day,


s: Raging to front God in his pride of sway


s: And hurl across the lifted swords of fate


s: Which somehow should undo Him, after all!


s: That this girl face, expectant, virginal,


s: Boon as a sweetheart, as if nothing loth


s: (Save for the eyes, with other presage stored)


s: And in the kingdom where the heart is lord


s: Take sail on the terrible gladness of the deep


s: The flesh which caught my soul, a flying seed,


s: Of scattering hands where the seedsman Mage,


s: Stooping from star to star and age to age


s: While over and over in the dark she said,


s: "Blessed! but not as happier children blessed" --


s: A little thing to flatter and make weep,


s: Hither-side the flood of the year and yonder of the neap;


s: Then thank you, thanks again, and twenty light good-byes. --


s: Thou knowest well I know that it is thou


s: Only to shield me from the afflicting sense


s: Which from this morning face and lustrous hair


s: With any but this girlish depth of gaze,


s: Your coming had not so unsealed and poured


s: The drippings of the winepress of my days.


s: The manifest angel with fresh lilies came


s: Earth-encumbered, blood-begotten, passionate man-child,


s: Who yet should be a trump of mighty call


s: Who yet should be a sword of flame before


s: To beat away the clang of hellish wings;


s: Trod by my hot soul from the pulp of self,


s: The Vineyard-master's tasting to abide --


s: Are these the bringings-in, the doings fine,


s: Drip from the stopples vinegar accursed;


s: These, I thought honied to the very seal,


s: Sole leavings of the amber-mantling must;


s: With watching and with wrestlings and with grief,


s: The stale breath sickens reeking from the shard.


s: Nothing is left.  Aye, how much less than naught!


s: Of the slack hours and waste imaginings,


s: Known to that froward, that unreckoning heart


s: Whereof this brewage was the precious part,


s: Treasured and set away with furtive boast?


s: Then look not so, as if all things were well!


s: Take your eyes from me, leave me to my shame,


s: Steel them with judgment, darken them with blame;


s: You bade me go and I have faltered from,


s: Looks of rejoicing love, of pride, of happy trust!


s: These eyes afflict me, cleanse me, keep me yet,


s: See how the shrivelled heart, that long has lain


s: When I consider Life and its few years --


s: A rose choked in the grass; an hour of fears;


s: The gusts that past a darkening shore do beat;


s: The burst of music down an unlistening street, --


s: Ye old, old dead, and ye of yesternight,


s: Chieftains, and bards, and keepers of the sheep,


s: Loose me from tears, and make me see aright


s: How each hath back what once he stayed to weep:


s: What were the winds that flailed and flayed


s: In dreams he strayed some brackened glade,


s: The Heart's Country.  [Florence Wilkinson]


s: Wind-washed and free, full-swept by rain and wave,


s: By tang of surf and thunder of the gale,


s: Wild be the ride yet safe the barque will sail


s: And past the plunging seas her harbor brave;


s: Nor care have I that storms and waters rave,


s: I cannot fear since you can never fail --


s: Once have I looked upon the burning grail,


s: And through your eyes have seen beyond the grave.


s: I know at last -- the strange, sweet mystery,


s: The nameless joy that trembled into tears,


s: The hush of wings when you were at my side --


s: See the true vision of the future years,


s: As in your face the love of Him who died!


s: The Nightingale unheard.  [Josephine Preston Peabody]


s: Yes, Nightingale, through all the summer-time


s: We followed on, from moon to golden moon;


s: From where Salerno day-dreams in the noon,


s: And the far rose of Paestum once did climb.


s: All the white way beside the girdling blue,


s: Through sun-shrill vines and campanile chime,


s: We listened; -- from the old year to the new.


s: You, that Ravello lured not, throned on high


s: And filled with singing out of sun-burned throats!


s: Nor yet Minore of the flame-sailed boats;


s: Nor yet -- of all bird-song should glorify --


s: Where God's own singer thatched his sunward nest,


s: And north and north, to where the hedge-rows are,


s: That beckon with white looks an endless way;


s: Where, through the fair wet silverness of May,


s: Among the cloudy sheep; and green, and pale,


s: The may-trees reach and glimmer, near or far,


s: And the red may-trees wear a shining veil.


s: The one vain longing, -- through all journeyings,


s: The one:  in every hushed and hearkening spot, --


s: All the soft-swarming dark where you were not,


s: Still longed for!  Yes, for sake of dreams and wings,


s: And wonders, that your own must ever make


s: To bower you close, with all hearts' treasurings;


s: And for that speech toward which all hearts do ache; --


s: Wins to one grave-side even the Roman years,


s: That kindle there the hallowed April flame


s: Of comfort-breathing violets.  By that shrine


s: Of Youth, Love, Death, forevermore the same,


s: Violets still! --  When falls, to leave no sign,


s: Most for his sake we dreamed.  Tho' not as he,


s: From that lone spirit, brimmed with human woe,


s: Your song once shook to surging overflow.


s: His cry, still throbbing in the flooded shell


s: Could draw from you no answer to the spell?


s: Long time we wondered (and we knew not why): --


s: Nor dream, nor prayer, of wayside gladness born,


s: Nor vineyards waiting, nor reproachful thorn,


s: Nor yet the nested hill-towns set so high


s: All the white way beside the girdling blue, --


s: Could serve to wake that rapturous voice of you!


s: O Nightingale unheard! --  Unheard alone,


s: From the faint sea-rim to the market-place,


s: So be it, better so:  that there should fail


s: For sun-filled ones, one blessed thing unknown.


s: To them, be hid forever, -- and all hail!


s: Sing, for the others!  Sing; to some pale cheek


s: Against the window, like a starving flower.


s: Loose, with your singing, one poor pilgrim hour


s: Of journey, with some Heart's Desire to seek.


s: Loose, with your singing, captives such as these


s: Sing not for free-men.  Ah, but sing for whom


s: The walls shut in; and even as eyes that fade,


s: The windows take no heed of light nor shade, --


s: The leaves are lost in mutterings of the loom.


s: Sing near!  So in that golden overflowing


s: They may forget their wasted human bloom;


s: Pay the devouring days their all, unknowing, --


s: Sing not for lovers, side by side that hark;


s: Parted indeed by more than makes the Sea,


s: Where never hope shall meet -- like mounting lark --


s: To them that sit in darkness, such as these,


s: Not in Kings' gardens.  No; but where there haunt


s: The world's forgotten, both of men and birds;


s: The hidings where men reap not, though they plant;


s: But toil and thirst -- so dying and so born; --


s: And toil and thirst to gather to their want,


s: From the lean waste, beyond the daylight's scorn,


s: And for those two, your pilgrims without tears,


s: Who prayed a largess where there was no dearth,


s: Forgive it them, brown music of the Earth,


s: Unknowing, -- though the wiser silence knew!


s: That while they walked together so, the Two


s: Only of thee and me.  [Louis Untermeyer]


s: Only of thee and me the night wind sings,


s: The earth is filled with wondered whisperings


s: The rain and sunshine tell the eager plant


s: Only of thee and me, till all shall fade;


s: Only of us the whole world's thoughts can be --


s: For we are Love, and God Himself is made


s: When the Wind is low.  [Cale Young Rice]


s: When the wind is low, and the sea is soft,


s: On the rim of the west where dark clouds nest


s: When I lean o'er the rail with you that I love


s: I know that the heavens are there above --


s: When the phosphor-stars are thrown from the bow


s: When the dim mast dips as the vessel slips


s: I know that the years of our life are few,


s: That time is as brief as a drop of dew --


s: Be still.  The Hanging Gardens were a dream.  [Trumbull Stickney]


s: Be still.  The Hanging Gardens were a dream


s: Troy never was, nor green Skamander stream.


s: Provence and Troubadour are merest lies,


s: Made within Titian's eye.  The sunsets seem,


s: Be still.  Thou foolish thing, thou canst not wake,


s: Nor thy tears wedge thy soldered lids apart,


s: But patter in the darkness of thy heart.


s: Thy brain is plagued.  Thou art a frighted owl


s: Blind with the light of life thou'ldst not forsake,


s: To you he gave his laughter and his jest,


s: His words that of all words were merriest,


s: His glad, mad moments when the lights flared high


s: And his wild song outshrilled the plaudits' din.


s: I, who have known the tears of Harlequin.


s: Not mine those moments when the roses lay


s: Like red spilled wine on his triumphant way,


s: And shouts acclaimed him through the music's beat,


s: But I have known his hour of sore defeat --


s: I -- I have known the tears of Harlequin.


s: Light kisses and light words, they were not mine --


s: Bought with his laughter, flattered by his jest;


s: But when despair broke through the painted grin,


s: His tortured face has fallen on my breast --


s: You weep for him, who look upon him dead,


s: That joy and jest and merriment are fled;


s: You weep for him, what time my eyes are dry,


s: Stifled by too much masking -- even I --


s: Wherein my dead loves cower from the sun,


s: White-swathed like kings, the Pharaohs of a day.


s: Perched on the knee of some deserted god,


s: And for the groan of rivers underground.


s: Stray not, my Love, 'mid the sarcophagi --


s: Tempt not the silence, for the fates are deep,


s: Lest all the dreamers, deeming doomsday nigh,


s: Leap forth in terror from their haunted sleep;


s: Thy voice call ghosts of dead things back from hell.


s: "Now since mine even is come at last, --


s: They bound him strong with leathern thong,


s: For the ride to the lady should be long.


s: And made the streams as the streams of hell.


s: The Cross flashed by at the highway's turn;


s: In a beam of the moon the Face shone stern.


s: Kept time to the beat of the horse's hoof.


s: "What is the throb that thrills so sweet?


s: But his own strong pulse the fainter fell,


s: Like the failing tongue of a hushing bell.


s: The flank of the great-limbed steed was wet


s: Fast, and fast, and the thick black wood


s: Arched its cowl like a black friar's hood;


s: Fast, and fast, and they plunged therein, --


s: Galloped the great-limbed steed in fright;


s: The mail clashed cold, and the sad owl cried,


s: And the weight of the dead oppressed his side.


s: And the waiting heaven turned weirdly blue,


s: He neighed at the gate in the morning dim.


s: Where the hammer and spikes of the passion-flower


s: The burdened steed at the barred gate stood,


s: O we have wakened, Sweet, and had our birth,


s: And we have toiled and smiled and kept the light,


s: The twilight's inner flame grows blue and deep,


s: The temples glimmer moonwise in the trees.


s: Twilight has veiled the little flower face


s: Here on my heart, but still the night is kind


s: And leaves her warm sweet weight against my breast.


s: When tides came in to ease the hungry beach,


s: And running, running, till the night was black,


s: Would fall forespent upon the chilly sand


s: And quiver with the winds from off the sea?


s: Whose waves are stinging kisses, but to me


s: Love brought no peace, nor darkness any rest.


s: I crept and touched the foam with fevered hands


s: And cried to Love, from whom the sea is sweet,


s: From whom the sea is bitterer than death.


s: To thee, God's daughter, powerful as God,


s: It is that thou hast made my life too sweet


s: And I have pierced the pain and come to peace.


s: And softer than a little wild bird's wing


s: Are kisses that she pours upon my mouth.


s: Ah, never any more when spring like fire


s: Will flicker in the newly opened leaves,


s: Shall I steal forth to seek for solitude


s: Beyond the sob that stilled Erinna's voice.


s: Ah, never with a throat that aches with song,


s: Beneath the white uncaring sky of spring,


s: Shall I go forth to hide awhile from Love


s: The love-note of the birds, and bowed my head


s: And all the world's spring passion stifled me.


s: Ah, Love, there is no fleeing from thy might,


s: No lonely place where thou hast never trod,


s: With flowers that spring beneath thy perfect feet.


s: I saw thee by the maidens while they danced,


s: I looked at Cercolas and saw thine eyes;


s: Now I have found the peace that fled from me;


s: Close, close, against my heart I hold my world.


s: Ah, Love that tuned my lips to lyres of thine,


s: I sing for one who falls asleep to hear.


s: Harps hung up in Babylon.  [Arthur Colton]


s: Their loosened strings rang on, sang on,


s: Live blindly and upon the hour.  The Lord,


s: Knowledge which is the Past is folly.  Go,


s: Poor child, and be not to thyself abhorred.


s: Around thine earth sun-winged winds do blow


s: And planets roll; a meteor draws his sword;


s: The rainbow breaks his seven-coloured chord


s: And the long strips of river-silver flow:


s: Awake!  Give thyself to the lovely hours.


s: Drinking their lips, catch thou the dream in flight


s: Thou art divine, thou livest, -- as of old


s: And all his island shivered into flowers.


s: Love's Springtide.  [Frank Dempster Sherman]


s: Sweet is the highroad when the skylarks call,


s: When we and Love go rambling through the land.


s: But shall we still walk gayly, hand in hand,


s: At the road's turning and the twilight's fall?


s: Then darkness shall divide us like a wall,


s: And uncouth evil nightbirds flap their wings;


s: Will creep upon us shuddering like a pall.


s: This is the knowledge I have wrung from pain:


s: We, yea, all lovers, are not one, but twain,


s: Each by strange wisps to strange abysses drawn;


s: But through the black immensity of night


s: Love's little lantern, like a glowworm's, bright,


s: May lead our steps to some stupendous dawn.


s: Ballade of my Lady's Beauty.  [Joyce Kilmer]


s: And clypt and kissed them all the night.


s: Grieve not, Ladies.  [Anna Hempstead Branch]


s: Brief lights that made a little shining!


s: Has come to you the first, sweet-hearted!


s: As fresh as are the spring-time flowers.


s: Of Joan's Youth.  [Louise Imogen Guiney]


s: The carmine grape, the moth's auroral wing.


s: Though you should lean above me broken-hearted,


s: I shall have peace as leafy trees are peaceful,


s: And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted


s: Love came back at Fall o' Dew.  [Lizette Woodworth Reese]


s: There's Rosemary.  [Olive Tilford Dargan]


s: O love that is not Love, but dear, so dear!


s: That is not love because it goes full soon,


s: Like flower born and dead within one moon,


s: And yet is love, for that it comes too near


s: The guarded fane where love alone may peer,


s: Ere, like young spring by summer soon outshone,


s: As thoughts of spring will come though summer's here.


s: Within my heart I'll keep a heaven for thee


s: Where thou mayst freely come and freely go,


s: Touching with thy faint gold ere I am 'ware


s: A twilight hope -- a dawn I did not see --


s: Breathe me the ancient words when I shall find


s: Your spirit mine; if, seeking you, life wins


s: New wonder, with old splendor let us bind


s: Our hearts when Love's high sacrament begins.


s: Yea, when you come, gold let our vestments be,


s: And lamps of silver let us softly swing.


s: But if at last, (hark how I whisper, Love!)


s: You from my temple and from me should turn,


s: I pray you chant no psalm my grief above,


s: Over the body of Pain let no light burn.


s: Drift, with no sign, from our exultant place;


s: And none should come to look on Love's white face.


s: "Grandmither, think not I forget".  [Willa Sibert Cather]


s: Grandmither, think not I forget, when I come back to town,


s: An' wander the old ways again, an' tread them up and down.


s: I never smell the clover bloom, nor see the swallows pass,


s: Wi'out I mind how good ye were unto a little lass;


s: I never hear the winter rain a-pelting all night through


s: Wi'out I think and mind me of how cold it falls on you.


s: An' if I come not often to your bed beneath the thyme,


s: Mayhap 't is that I'd change wi' ye, and gie my bed for thine,


s: I never hear the summer winds among the roses blow


s: Wi'out I wonder why it was ye loved the lassie so.


s: Ye gave me cakes and lollipops and pretty toys a score --


s: I never thought I should come back and ask ye now for more.


s: They grope among the shadows an' they beat the cold black air,


s: They go seekin' in the darkness, an' they never find him there,


s: Grandmither, gie me your sightless eyes, that I may never see


s: His own a-burnin' full o' love that must not shine for me.


s: Grandmither, gie me your clay-stopped ears, that I may never hear


s: A-singin' when the moonlight over a' the land is white --


s: Ah, God! I'll up and go to him, a-singin' in the night,


s: Wi' every beat it's callin' for things that must not be, --


s: So can ye not let me creep in an' rest awhile by ye?


s: A little lass afeard o' dark slept by ye years agone --


s: An' she has found what night can hold 'twixt sunset an' the dawn:


s: Ye'll know it's under rue an' rose that I would like to be,


s: When I am dead and Sister to the Dust.  [Elsa Barker]


s: Has covered me with poppies, and cold rust


s: Has cut my lyre-strings, and the sun has thrust


s: Me underground to nourish the world-vine, --


s: Men shall discover these old songs of mine,


s: And say:  This woman lived -- as poets must!


s: This woman lived and wore life as a sword


s: In the sealed Book of Love and underscored


s: The meanings.  Then the sails of faith she spread,


s: Went singing down the River of the Dead.


s: Little Gray Songs from St. Joseph's.  [Grace Fallow Norton]


s: They lift who pray -- the low earth-born --


s: Would they have stayed their wild, wild love,


s: Must they have stopped their hungry lips


s: My soul -- there's naught can make it less;


s: Yet here it weeps -- long blind, long blind --


s: I try to knead and spin, but my life is low the while.


s: Oh, I long to be alone, and walk abroad a mile;


s: Yet if I walk alone, and think of naught at all,


s: Why from me that's young should the wild tears fall?


s: The shower-sodden earth, the earth-colored streams,


s: They breathe on me awake, and moan to me in dreams,


s: And yonder ivy fondling the broke castle-wall,


s: It pulls upon my heart till the wild tears fall.


s: The cabin-door looks down a furze-lighted hill,


s: And far as Leighlin Cross the fields are green and still;


s: But once I hear the blackbird in Leighlin hedges call,


s: The foolishness is on me, and the wild tears fall!


s: Then, lady, at last thou art sick of my sighing.


s: So long as I sue, thou wilt still be denying?


s: Ah, well! shall I vow then to serve thee forever,


s: And swear no unkindness our kinship can sever?


s: Nay, nay, dear my lass! here's an end of endeavor.


s: Yet let no sweet ruth for my misery grieve thee.


s: The man who has loved knows as well how to leave thee.


s: The gorse is enkindled, there's bloom on the heather,


s: And love is my joy, but so too is fair weather;


s: I still ride abroad though we ride not together.


s: My horse is my mate; let the wind be my master.


s: Though Care may pursue, yet my hound follows faster.


s: The red deer's a-tremble in coverts unbroken.


s: He hears the hoof-thunder; he scents the death-token.


s: Shall I mope at home, under vows never spoken?


s: The brown earth's my book, and I ride forth to read it.


s: The stream runneth fast, but my will shall outspeed it.


s: I love thee, dear lass, but I hate the hag Sorrow.


s: As sun follows rain, and to-night has its morrow,


s: So I'll taste of joy, though I steal, beg, or borrow!


s: Who shall declare the joy of the running!


s: Who shall tell of the pleasures of flight!


s: Springing and spurning the tufts of wild heather,


s: Sweeping, wide-winged, through the blue dome of light.


s: Swift and God-gifted, immeasurably bright.


s: So with the stretch of the white road before me,


s: Shining snow crystals rainbowed by the sun,


s: Fields that are white, stained with long, cool, blue shadows,


s: Strong with the strength of my horse as we run.


s: Joy in the touch of the wind and the sunlight!


s: Has stripling Will, the thoughtful-eyed,


s: The hedgerow's green, the summer's grace,


s: Though heart be sore for the little House


s: Through goat's-rue, with its dim caress,


s: Where fungous forms stood, gold and gray,


s: And, roofed with red, glimpsed far away,


s: With round revealments, puff-ball white,


s: My breath came short, and scarce at all.


s: Through which my shrinking sight did pass


s: That, sick'ning, I would fain pluck thence


s: But could not, -- nay!  But needs must suck


s: Craved all in vain!  And felt fierce fire


s: Perished with each, -- then mourned for all!


s: And every scream tore through my throat.


s: That was not mine; mine each last breath


s: Rolls, twinkling, from its grass-blade top.


s: I ceased; and, through the breathless hush


s: The startled storm-clouds reared on high


s: Of orchard-breath, and with the smell, --


s: Caught fiercely, and a great heart-throb


s: Above the world is stretched the sky, --


s: And folk, whose earth-stained looks I hate,


s: Then that dread angel near the awful throne,


s: Leaving the seraphs ranged in flaming tiers,


s: Winged his dark way through those unpinioned spheres,


s: And on the void's black beetling edge, alone,


s: Stood with raised wings, and listened for the tone


s: Of God's command to reach his eager ears,


s: While Chaos wavered, for she felt her years


s: Unsceptered now in that convulsive zone.


s: Night trembled.  And as one hath oft beheld


s: A lamp within a vase light up its gloom,


s: So God's voice lighted him, from heel to plume:


s: "Let there be light!" It said, and Darkness, quelled,


s: Shrunk noiseless backward in her monstrous womb


s: Through vasts unwinnowed by the wings of eld!


s: A Caravan from China comes.  [Richard Le Gallienne]


s: As I came down from Lebanon.  [Clinton Scollard]


s: Through mountain passes bleak and brown,


s: Of these your letters told; and I who read


s: In march across the desert, mile on mile,


s: Between the sand and stars; and at their head


s: From unmapped darkness into darkness fled


s: There black against the night I saw them loom


s: Remembered only by their sculptured doom,


s: Then rose obscure against the rearward gloom


s: A sovereign city free from greed and guile,


s: Then saw I one of smooth words, swift to please,


s: At laggard virtue mock with shrug and smile;


s: With Cleon's creed rang court and peristyle,


s: From brows ignoble fell the violet crown.


s: Again the warning sounds; the hosts engage:


s: In Cleon's face we fling our battle gage,


s: But while we think to build the coming age


s: The laurel on our brows is turning brown.


s: We top the poisonous blooms that choke the state,


s: At flower and fruit our flashing strokes are made,


s: The whetted scythe on stalk and stem is laid,


s: Will sprout again and flourish, branch and blade;


s: With zeal redoubled let our strength be strained


s: To cut the rooted causes where they hold,


s: When all the breeding marshes must be drained.


s: Be this our aim; and let our youth be trained


s: To honor virtue more than place and gold.


s: Lie hearsed in sand upon the heaving plain,


s: And mold a state immune from evil's sway.


s: Not laws; but virtue in the soul we need,


s: The golden rule become the people's creed


s: When years of training have performed their part


s: For thus alone in home and church and mart


s: In crypts profaned the moon at midnight peers;


s: The owl upon the Sphinx hoots in her ears,


s: And scant and sear the desert grasses nod


s: With younger sunlight splendid on the spears;


s: The lichens cling the closer with the years,


s: As Arab children hear their mother's cry


s: And leave in mockery their toy -- they leave


s: The skull of Pharaoh staring at the sky.


s: (Which is the next highest of mountains)


s: To Brahma in whose breath all lives and dies;


s: First-born of Asia whose maternal throes


s: Seem changed now to a million human woes,


s: Holy thou art and still!  Be so, nor sound


s: One sigh of all the mystery in thee found.


s: For in this world too much is overclear,


s: From whose ice-altars flow to fainting sands


s: Rivers that each libation poured expands.


s: Too much is known, O Ganges-giving sire!


s: Thy people fathom life and find it dire,


s: Thy people fathom death, and, in it, fire


s: To live again, though in Illusion's sphere,


s: Wherefore continue, still enshrined, thy rites,


s: Though dark Thibet, that dread ascetic, falls


s: In strange austerity, whose trance appalls,


s: Before thee, and a suppliant on thee calls.


s: Continue still thy silence high and sure,


s: That something beyond fleeting may endure --


s: Of lifted granite round with reachless snows.


s: Ensheath thy swart sublimities, unscaled.


s: Be that alone on earth which has not failed.


s: Be that which never yet has yearned or ailed,


s: But since primeval Power upreared thy heights


s: Has stood above all deaths and all delights.


s: And though thy loftier Brother shall be King,


s: High-priest art thou to Brahma unrevealed,


s: And to the mendicant stars and the moon-nun,


s: Be holy still, till East to West has run,


s: On any shrine is left to tell life's sting.


s: You, like a Hermes so lissome and strong


s: Descended, perhaps, from one of the band --


s: Who combed their long hair at Thermopylae's pass?


s: More tragic than theirs, more compassion-worth,


s: That have doomed you to march in our "immigrant class"


s: Where you're nothing but "scum o' the earth".


s: What dower bring you to the land of the free?


s: That Chopin once found on his Polish lea


s: That Dvorak took whole from the dancers.


s: The little, dull eyes, the brows a-gloom,


s: While, watching these folk and their mystery,


s: Are "polacks" -- and "scum o' the earth".


s: In the first sweet shock of a hushed surprise;


s: When a world from the wave began to rise.


s: Oh, it's hard to foretell what high emprise


s: And you, are you of a different birth? --


s: Man of the eyes full of wisdom and mystery


s: Were you the prophet, perchance, whose art


s: You're a "sheeny" -- and therefore despised


s: For that we spat on these marvelous folk,