AFTER T ALIESIN .

Discover thou, — Who
It was that first grew,
Out of nothing arrayed,
Created, not made,
A Creature strong,
Ere man was, long
Before the Flood?
Without flesh, without blood;
Without veins, without bone;
Without head or foot; grown
Nor more aged nor young
Than when first he forth-sprung
Into life, bold of breath.
Not for him, fear or death:
Not for him, want or care,
Can come near.
Great God! how the foam
Is whipt white if he come,
From out the Unknown,
Oh, most beautiful One!
In the wood and the mead,
How he fares in his speed!
And over the land,
Without foot, without hand,
Without fear of old age,
Or Destiny's rage:
Coeval in time
With the Centuries' prime,
And the Periods Five, —
He fared, strong and live,
Forthright in his pride.
And his wings are as wide
As the ends of the earth:
And none gave him birth:
And his face none has seen,
Though but now he has been
Both afar and at hand,
On the sea, on the land.
And there is no wall
That can bind him; no call
That can bring him from where
The four Regions are.
Unrestrained, — with the day,
He is forth on his way,
From o'er the high throne
Of the pale marble-stone.
Now loud and now dumb,
Discourteous, he is come;
Determined and bold;
O'er the field and the wold;
And blustering sweeps on
To the sea, and is gone.
His banner he flings
O'er the earth as he springs
On his way, but unseen
Are its folds; and his mien,
Rough or fair, is not shown,
And his face is unknown.
From the heat of the sun,
From the cold of the moon,
He drinks splendour and speed:
And the stars urge his steed.
Seven stars are in heaven,
Seven gifts were they given:
And the student of stars
Knows them — Mercury, Mars,
And their kin, and their might.
How the Moon fetches light
From the Sun, too, he knows,
And how freely it flows;
But who tells us, or knows,
Whence came, swift and strong,
This Creature, made long
Ere man was; — and grown
Without flesh, without bone,
Without veins, without blood,
Without hands, without feet,
Strong, fearless, and fleet, —
Ere the flood?