As we the Berserk's tale Measured in cups of ale, Draining the oaken pail, "Once, as I told in glee "I wooed the blue-eyed maid, Yielding, yet half afraid, And in the forest's shade Our vows were plighted. Under its loosened vest "Bright in her father's hall When of old Hildebrand I asked his daughter's hand, To hear my story. "While the brown ale he quaffed, Loud then the champion laughed, And as the wind gusts waft The sea foam brightly, "She was a Prince's child, I but a Viking wild, And though she blushed and smiled I was discarded! Should not the dove so white Why did they leave that night "Scarce had I put to sea, Bearing the maid with me, Fairest of all was she Among the Norsemen, When, on the white sea strand Waving his arméd hand, With twenty horsemen. "Then launched they to the blast, Bent like a reed each mast; Yet we were gaining fast, When the wind failed us; And, with a sudden flaw Laugh as he hailed us. "And as to catch the gale Round veered the flapping sail, Death! was the helmsman's hail, Midships, with iron keel, "As, with his wings aslant, Through the wild hurricane, Bore I the maiden. "Three weeks we westward bore, Stands looking seaward. "There lived we many years; Time dried the maiden's tears; She had forgot her fears, She was a mother; Death closed her mild blue eyes, Under that tower she lies; Ne'er shall the sun arise On such another! Words: "Still grew my bosom then, Oh, death was grateful! "Thus, seamed with many scars, My soul ascended! There from the flowing bowl Deep drinks the warrior's soul, Skoal! to the Northland! skoal!" Thus the tale ended. -Henry W. Longfellow Skald-minstrel; Saga-heroic poem; gerfalcon-large hawk; grisly-fierce (not the grizzly bear of North America); corsair pirate, rover; wassail-bout-drinking contest; Berserk-a fierce warrior maddened by drink; Skaw-headland; fen-swamp; SkoalHail! An expression of good will. Questions: Who is represented as speaking in the first stanza? With what stanza does the skeleton's story begin? Where and how does it end? Can you give a reason why this poem is so well-liked by boys and girls? Pleasure Reading: Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill Mabie's Norse Stories Related from the Eddas Montgomery's Heroic Ballads Scollard's Ballads of American Bravery In your hearts are the brooks and the sunshine, In your thoughts the brooklet's flow; But in mine is the wind of Autumn And the first fall of the snow. Ah! what would the world be to us We should dread the desert behind us What the leaves are to the forest, That to the world are children; Come to me, O ye children! And whisper in my ear What the birds and the winds are singing. In your sunny atmosphere. |