Classic Poem

In furious mood,
King Helge stood
On the shore, and pray'd
To the fiends for aid.
How black and how low'ring the once azure sky!
And loud bursts the thunder-peal rolling on high!
How roughly and fiercely the wild ocean raves!
Why rises he thus, with his white foaming waves?

The lightning's keen dart, with its bright flashing glare,
For a moment illumines the dark lurid air!
Hark! the scream that announces the sea bird's affright, —
As he hastens to shore — and how rapid his flight!

" Hard must we combat, friends!
Its force the tempest sends;
Its flapping wings we hear;
But warriors know not fear.
My love, in thy lone bower,
Dost weep for me this hour?
Thy tears, thy fond alarms
Do but augment thy charms. "

'Fore the bark now glide
Two fiends, Ham and Heid!
Ham the storm excites;
Heid in snow delights.

The tempest begins its dark wings to display, —
Oh, summon your strength for this terrible fray!
Now plunges the bark; oh, how deep is that cave!
But still she remounts on the high swelling wave.

All the demons of terror more horribly yell,
And grin with their visage fantastic and fell!
They ride on the billows with fiendish delight,
And play with the foam ever sparkling and white!

" More pleasant was the night,
When, by the moon's clear light,
This noble bark I drove,
To Balder's sacred grove:
And milder was the air,
When arms so soft and fair,
Then clasp'd me to a breast,
Whiter than ocean's crest. "

But Solunder isles now
Are seen from the bow
More calm is that sea;
On! the port is free.

Our Viking knows nothing of terrors and fears, —
And, e'en at this moment, how calm he appears!
He seizes the rudder, and firm in his hand,
Ellida bounds freely beneath his command.
Now they tighten the sail, and more swiftly they fly;
And the rough tempest's power they may safely defy.
To the west! to the west! lo, they still bend their course!
And gallantly struggle 'gainst ocean's dread force.

" Yes! now for one short hour
I'll prove Ellida's power:
Antagonists of old
Are storms and Norsemen bold
My maiden's cheek would glow,
Should fear her eagle show,
Or should he bend his wing,
To safer port to cling. "

The waves rise more high!
More black grows the sky!
The masts and yards reel,
And loud groans the keel.

Now all's well again, and each furious wave
Thus fiercely may roll, and thus loudly may rave
Ellida obeys the proud chieftain's command;
The tempest's wild ravings she now may withstand.
The shooting star thus, through the blue vault of night,
Speeds swift in its path so unerring and bright;
She bounds o'er the billows, — untam'd is her pride;
The chamois thus leaps on the high mountain's side.

" Sweeter thy kiss, my love,
In Balder's sacred grove,
Than the salt waves that now
Through my lips ever flow
And sweeter to be press'd
To royal maiden's breast,
Than here so cold to stand,
With rudder in my hand. "

How fast falls the snow!
Hard it freezes now!
'Gainst the buckler's mail
Fierce clatters the hail!

How wild is the night! and how dark is the sky!
Not even the topsail can Frithiof descry.
E'en such is the hue in the proud chieftain's hall,
When the dead are enwrapp'd in their funeral pall.
And oh! with what speed, rous'd by magical song,
The billows now drive the bold vessel along!
They open their jaws, — what a deep gulph is there, —
And that gulph is a tomb! Oh Ellida, beware!

" Ran offers to our view
Her bed of deepest blue:
But thy couch, maiden fair,
I would much rather share,
Come, aid me, warriors bold,
Ellida's helm to hold!
One hour she yet may stand; —
She sprang from Agir's hand. "

A billow now leaps!
Poop and deck it sweeps!
Oh, swift was its speed,
And fearful its deed!

And now the brave Frithiof unclasps from his arm
A bracelet of gold, deem'd a magical charm;
Like the sun's brilliant rays it flash'd on the sight,
And king Bele's gift was this jewel so bright,
But why that fair bracelet in pieces divide?
The Gnomes form'd its circle, — that work was their pride.
He gives to each warrior a fragment of gold,
And these were the words that his purpose unfold.

" Gold we should ever bear
When wooing maiden fair
And none with empty hand
Should Rana's grace demand.
No easy task, I ween,
To clasp her bosom green
Yet, though her kiss be cold,
She may be sooth'd by gold. "

More fierce is the storm!
The contest more warm!
The planks groan and strain!
And loud heaves the main!

Now a sea rushes over the vessel so brave;
Now she mounts tow'rds the sky; now she sinks with the wave.
The crew ever bale; all their labour is vain,
The waters rush in with fresh vigor again.
And Frithiof himself can no longer deny
That death sits on board, with his cold, glassy eye.
All hear his commands; and how firm is their tone!
Brave warriors obey such a chieftain alone.

" Come, Biorn! the rudder hold!
Thy hand is firm and bold
Such tempests fierce and hard
Come not from Asagard
Magic hath lent its might,
Conjured by Helge's spite;
But from the mast on high,
I may the fiends descry. "

Like a squirrel in haste
He climbs up the mast,
And, clinging on high,
He casts down his eye.

But what strikes his vision, thus swimming so fast?
Lo! a whale, like an island broke loose, rushes past!
Upon its broad back two fell demons are seen,
While still o'er the whale dash those billows of green!
Heid bears the rude shape of a monstrous ice-bear;
He shakes snows around, while his eye-balls fierce glare.
And Ham now appears in a huge eagle's form
He flaps his vast wings, and more rough blows the storm,

" Ellida! prove again,
That thou dost yet retain
A warrior's noble pride,
In thy broad oaken side!
The tempest rages wild;
If thou art Agir's child,
With thy keel sharp and true
Cut me that whale in two! "

Ellida gives ear
To those accents clear
She makes but one bound;
'Tis one deadly wound.

And lo! the red blood, how it spouts up on high,
And shadows with crimson the terrified sky!
Swift plunges the monster beneath the dark wave,
To breathe his last sigh in the ocean's deep cave;
But from Frithiof's bold hand, lo! two arrows fly fast,
Ere the monster yet sinks, and all danger be past.
One arrow transfixes the grisly ice-bear;
The other the eagle, fell demon of air.

" 'Tis well, my gallant bark!
Now Helge's vessel dark
Shall never float again:
And Ham and Heid in vain
May strive, with fiendish pride,
O'er ocean's waves to ride.
Those demons long will rue.
My weapons sharp and true. "

Lo! the the storm hath ceas'd,
And the billows rest!
The vessel they steer
Towards an island near,

And the sun now advances, — oh glorious sight!
Like a king in his hall, so majestic and bright!
How smiles all with joy 'neath his broad golden eye,
The ship and the billows, the mountain and sky!
And soft fall his rays on an island there seen,
With its bold massy rocks, and its hillocks so green;
The warriors with rapture now welcome the shore,
And Efjesund isle was the name that it bore.

" Thy prayers, my gentle love,
Have moved the powers above.
Suppliant they bend the knee
At Valhall's throne for me,
The tears from their bright eyes,
Their bosom's fervent sighs,
Have saved thy champion true:
To them our thanks are due. "

But the bark distrest
Needs repairs and rest:
The whale's fierce blows
Have injur'd her bows.

But still more I ween, do those warriors so bold,
Demand a short respite from labor and cold.
Their limbs are all numbed; they are trembling and pale;
They move not — they hear not — what now can avail?
Biorn on his broad shoulders bears four to the strand,
And places them safe on a firm beach of sand:
But Frithiof takes eight, they fatigue not his arm;
He kindles a fire, and thus soothes their alarm.

" Blush not! my noble crew!
Ocean's a Viking true.
'Tis hard to stand in fight
Against his daughters' might.
Now let the mead horn's store
Your limbs to warmth restore,
And cups high fill'd proclaim
Fair Ingeborga's name. "