THE FOES
From Hakon Jarl'
[Hakon's dominion is menaced by Olaf Trygvesön, who has invaded the
land and seeks to substitute the faith of the Christian for that of the heathen.
From Hakon Jarl'
[Hakon's dominion is menaced by Olaf Trygvesön, who has invaded the
land and seeks to substitute the faith of the Christian for that of the heathen.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v18 - Mom to Old
ere sunset we shall meet again.
[He follows the warriors.
My brother! is your wound a mortal one?
Yes, Wilhelm. Loose my shoulder scarf, I pray you!
Draw out the scabbard, and give me the scarf,
That I may stanch the blood a little while,
And respite life. Thanks! Lead me over now
To yonder pillar that bears Valborg's name;
Here shall I rest more easily. So! Let me lean
Against the wall, so that I may not fall
In dying.
Wilhelm-
Brother, do you suffer pain?
Axel- No! Light and calm and peaceful is my heart.
Wilhelm- Axel, would you not wish to see your Valborg
Once more before you die?
Axel-
Ah, Wilhelm, yes!
Wilhelm - Then will I hasten up and fetch her straightway.
Axel
Stay yet a moment! It might happen, Wilhelm,
That Axel were no more when Valborg comes.
Then tell the chosen of my heart I died
With Valborg's name upon my lips.
## p. 10760 (#640) ##########################################
10760
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Wilhelm-
Axel-
Wilhelm
Axel-
Wilhelm-
Axel-
Wilhelm
Axel-
-
Tell her that Hakon is a noble hero;
That Axel's confidence was not misplaced
In trusting to his royal heart.
That will I.
I will.
Greet Helfred,-greet my darling sister, Wilhelm!
At Immersborg; and thank her lovingly
For all the thoughts and feelings, joys and sorrows,
She ever shared from childhood with her brother.
Ah, Helfred understood me, knew me well!
Tell her that I have not forgot my sister
In e'en mine hour of death.
Good! I will greet her.
But Valborg first and last! my earnest wish
Is, that whene'er her days on earth are ended,
Axel may slumber by her side.
Your wish
Shall be fulfilled. Hast more to tell me?
Wilhelm-Well then,- I go!
Axel [grasping his hand-
Axel [alone]-
Nay.
My noble, faithful comrade!
Thanks for your friendship and your true devotion.
In deeds you showed it, though in words but seldom.
Take from this feeble hand my life's farewell!
Wilhelm-Farewell, farewell!
Axel-
Wilhelm, was I your friend?
Wilhelm - My only friend! Now have I none remaining.
I die for land and lord, as did my sires.
What honorable Norseman more desires?
O God! with joy my soul doth fly to Thee;
For thou wilt give the chosen of my heart
To be my bride in thine eternity,
Where Axel from his Valborg ne'er shall part.
[The sun shines through the choir window. ]
All hail to thee, thou new-born morning light!
Thou comest to enlighten my dim sight,
And tinge my pallid cheek with thy warm ray.
Soon, soon a morning glow upon me shines,
That never waxes into glaring day;
An evening glow that ne'er to night declines.
[He goes.
## p. 10761 (#641) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10761
My youthful hopes! ye were no shadows vain;-
'Twas mine to love, and to be loved again;
A friend was mine; a noble king God gave,
Whom I have fitted for his station high,
Whom by my death it is my lot to save.
Well, Axel! thou hast lived, so thou canst die.
And see, my Valborg! yonder angels twine
A wreath of blue forget-me-nots like thine.
Then thou shalt never from thine Axel part,
When thou shalt meet him in those realms above,
More worthy of thy beauty and thine heart,
Where 'tis no sin to nourish sacred love.
Farewell, my Valborg!
Wilhelm [coming with Valborg]·
Wilhelm-
Valborg-
-
[He dies.
He is still alive!
He is alive! Heard you? - he spoke of Valborg!
Valborg-I took his life's farewell.
[She gazes on him.
He is no more.
Mine Axel! dost thou live? If thou dost live,
Lift upon me thine eye for the last time,
Thou noble soul! and let thy blessing shine
On Valborg in thy fixed and dying gaze.
He is no more. Ah, he is dead! He died
With Valborg's name upon his lips.
Hast fought thy fight, brave youth!
His king?
Ay, as a hero.
Glorious death!
Far better this than fly to foreign lands,
To spend thy days in barren banishment,
And waste away with grief of heart, my Axel!
Thou sufferest now no longer, heart-loved youth!
Now hast thou won thyself eternal honor.
Thy Fatherland, thy noble mother Norway,
Is proud of Axel- of her gallant son.
For many an age shall thy beloved name
Be heard fresh-sounding on her grateful lips;
At Thing-motes men shall often high extol
Thy hero-deed; while in the ladies' bower,
At eventide old ballads shall be sung,
Recounting Axel's love and faithfulness.
[To Wilhelm] -
How fair he is in death!
Well, thou
Fell he not for
## p. 10762 (#642) ##########################################
10762
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
[To the dead Axel]— Thy golden locks.
Are wildly scattered round thy pallid brow.
[She arranges his hair with her hand. ]
So should it be! This brow must not be covered:
'Tis arched so high and noble, like the heavens.
See how he smiles in death!
Farewell, my Axel!
[She kisses him. ]
Thy Valborg follows soon.
[She rises up, and lays her hand upon her breast, whilst she draws her
breath deeply and heavily. ]
Wilhelm
Ay, soon! ay, soon!
Wilhelm-My noble Valborg, you are pale.
Valborg-
My Axel
Is paler still. Peace, my kind Wilhelm! peace!
Disturb not Valborg in her loneliness.
[With enthusiasm] —
How pleasant seems it here within the church!
How brightly beams the sunshine through the windows,
As at this very hour, my Axel! yesterday,
When first thou pressedst Valborg to thy heart.
How homelike 'tis, how cheerful, in the church!
Here shall we live right happily together,
Peacefully dwelling opposite each other,-
Thou with thy father, Valborg with her mother.
And when the clock strikes twelve, and in yon birch
Outside our window sings each night the thrush,
The wall and marble stones will open wide,
And we shall meet at Harold Gille's grave,
And thence go hand in hand up to the altar,
And sit us down within the moonlit choir
And let the moon with pale and silv'ry light
Beam on our pallid cheeks, and listen to
The thrush's spring song, whilst we call to mind
The memories of our faithful love in life;
Then, when the moonlight passes from the choir,
Go back with slow and melancholy steps,
And walk three times round Harold Gille's tomb;
There shall we pause and take our loving leave
Until the next night comes. Deep in our graves
Then shall we slumber sweetly, whilst the living
Are rioting without.
And Axel's wish
Was to be buried in one grave with Valborg.
## p. 10763 (#643) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10763
Valborg - In one same grave? Ah, that were glorious, but
It may not be, my noble knight! Alas!
Axel and Valborg never were betrothed.
It may not be; yet how much would I give,
That the same coffin might contain both Valborg's
And Axel's bones!
Wilhelm
―
[She gazes down before her. ]
But, noble Wilhelm, tell me
What glistens in the dust, in yonder crevice
Of Harold's tombstone?
See I right, it is
A ring.
Wilhelm-
Valborg
Valborg-
A ring?
Wilhelm [takes it up]— Yes, it is Axel's ring.
Valborg - Axel's? Did it not roll into the grave?
O our forefather! now I understand thee; —
I understood thee then. Give me my ring!
-
[She places it upon her finger. ]
Now am I truly thy betrothed, my Axel!
Now am I Axel's bride! Now may we be
Buried together in one grave.
Poor girl!
"Poor girl? Nay, Wilhelm! happy, happy girl.
Is it not true, my noble friend, I call you
My friend, for you were Axel Thordson's friend,-
Is it not true, my friend, you know the ballad
Of Knight Sir Aage and of Lady Else?
Wilhelm — The Danish bishop taught it to my mother;
And she, in early childhood, taught it me.
Valborg - And you remember it?
Wilhelm-
Yes, perfectly.
Valborg — Oh, that is well! My Axel told me that
You have a noble voice; not delicate
And soft, like that which pleases men in life,
But deep, and strong, and solemn,- as a voice
From out the grave. Well, noble Wilhelm, will
You show me now the kindness, for the sake
Of him who was your friend, to sing this ballad
For Valborg, whilst in recompense she places
Her ring upon his cold and lifeless hand?
Wilhelm - Yes, I will do it, if it comforts you.
Valborg - My Axel too has told me that you are
A skilled musician on the harp.
-
## p. 10764 (#644) ##########################################
10764
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Wilhelm-
Its tones
Full oft have lulled my troubled soul to rest.
Valborg-Well, see in yonder corner, dearest Wilhelm,
Close by my mother's grave, there stands a harp.
How many a sleepless night has Valborg's voice
Risen to its tuneful notes among the tombs!
How many a time has she to it begun
Aage's and Else's ballad! Never yet
I sang it to the end; for hot tears choked
My feeble voice. To you, my noble knight,
To you a stronger nature God has given;
So take the tunèd harp, and sit you down
By yonder pillar, opposite my Axel,
And sing the mournful ballad to the end,
Whilst Valborg kneels beside her Axel's corpse;
And do not rise, I pray, till all is o'er,
And Else is to Aage joined in death.
Wilhelm-I sing thee comfort in the morning dawn.
[Valborg kneels down beside Axel's corpse; Wilhelm takes the harp, sits
down, and sings. ]
*"It was the fair knight Aagen:
To an isle he went his way,
And plighted troth to Else,
Who was so fair a may.
He plighted troth to Else
All with the ruddy gold;
But or ere that day's moon came again,
Low he lay in the black, black mold.
"It was the maiden Else:
She was fulfilled of woe
When she heard how the fair knight Aagen
In the black mold lay alow.
Uprose the fair knight Aagen,
Coffin on back took he,
And he's away to her bower
Sore hard as the work might be.
"With that same chest on door he smote,
For the lack of flesh and skin;
'O hearken, maiden Else,
And let thy true love in. '
*Mr. Butler's version of this famous ballad is a creditable one; but the
translation made by William Morris far surpasses it in beauty, and is here
substituted.
## p. 10765 (#645) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10765
[Wilhelm ceases.
der. ]
Then answered maiden Else,
'Never open I my door,
But and if thou namest Jesu's name
As thou hadst might before! '—
"Oh, whenso thou art joyous,
And the heart is glad in thee,
Then fares it with my coffin
That red roses are with me;
But whenso thou art sorrowful,
And weary is thy mood,
Then all within my coffin
Is it dreadful with dark blood.
«Now is the red cock a-crowing,-
To the earth adown must I;
Down to the earth wend all dead folk,
And I wend in company.
Look thou up to the heavens aloft
To the little stars and bright,
And thou shalt see how sweetly
It fareth with the night. '
"She looked up to the heavens aloft,
To the little stars bright above;
The dead man sank into his grave,-
Ne'er again she saw her love.
Home then went maiden Else,
Mid sorrow manifold,
And ere that night's moon came again
She lay alow in the mold. "
Valborg lies motionless with her head upon Axel's shoul
Wilhelm - The song is ended, noble Valborg! [He rises. ] Valborg,
Rise up again: my song is ended now.
Valborg! She does not move. Cold, pale! She breathes
No longer. Heaven! I had foreboded it!
Valborg is dead! As Nanna with her Baldur;
As with her Hjalmar, Ingeborg; as Else
With Ridder Aage. Her true heart has broken
With sorrow o'er the body of her Axel.
O Northern faithfulness, how strong thou art!
There lie they both, in one another's arms,
Lifeless, but now one life, one soul with God.
## p. 10766 (#646) ##########################################
10766
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Gotfred [comes]—
Wilhelm
And Wilhelm had to sing your funeral dirge!
Well, it was but the tribute due to friendship.
[Martial music outside the scene. ]
Hakon is fallen: Erling is victorious.
They bring the body of the king.
Wilhelm [drawing his sword]—
The Gille's race is utterly extinct.
Be speedy, Gotfred! Hasten to the bishop;
Take him on board our ship; await me there;
Ere sunset we will sail from Throndhjem's Fiord.
[Gotfred goes. ]
HAK
And so
And now go, dearest, best beloved friends.
Until the grave shall open, and unite
What life had parted, shall your Wilhelm show
The honor due by friendship to your dust.
I will keep watch beside you; I will lay
Thy shield and sword, brave knight! upon thy coffin,
Encircled by thy maiden's wreath of flowers;
And on the shining plate will I engrave,
"Here Axel Thordson and fair Valborg rest;
He for his king, she for her lover died. "
Translation of Pierce Butler.
THE FOES
From Hakon Jarl'
[Hakon's dominion is menaced by Olaf Trygvesön, who has invaded the
land and seeks to substitute the faith of the Christian for that of the heathen.
In his extremity, Hakon resorts to foul means, and hires one Thorer Klake to
assassinate King Olaf. The attempt is unsuccessful, for Thorer Klake falls a
victim to his own treachery; and Olaf Trygvesön himself seeks out Hakon in
the peasant hut to which he has retired. ]
Enter Olaf Trygvesön, muffled up in a gray cloak, with a broad hat on
his head.
AKON [without looking up]-
-
My valiant Thorer Klake, hast come at last?
Hast been successful? Dost thou bring to me
What thou didst promise? Answer, Thorer Klake.
## p. 10767 (#647) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10767
Olaf All things have happened as they should, my lord;
But pardon Thorer that he does not come
And bring himself King Olaf's head to thee
'Twas difficult for him. Thor knows he had
A sort of loathing that himself should bring it,
And so he sent me.
Hakon
Well, 'tis good; away,
And deeply bury it in the dark earth.
I will not look on it myself: my eye
Bears not such sights,- they reappear in dreams.
Bury the body with it. Tell thy lord
That he shall come at once.
He is asleep.
A midday slumber; he lies stretched
Stiffly beneath a shadowy elder-tree.
Hakon- Then wake him up. [Aside. ] Asleep, and after such
A deed Ha! Thorer, I admire thee;
Thou hast rare courage. [Aloud. ] Thrall, go wake him up.
Olaf- But wilt thou first not look at Olaf's head?
Hakon-No; I have said no.
Olaf-
Olaf-
Hakon- Asleep?
Olaf -
Thou dost think, my lord,
That perhaps it is a horrid frightful sight:
It is not so, my lord; for Olaf's head
Looks fresh and sound as any in the land.
Hakon-Away, I tell thee!
Olaf -
I ne'er saw the like:
always heard that Hakon was a hero,
Few like him in the North,- and does he fear
To see a lifeless and a corpseless head?
How wouldst thou tremble then, my lord, if thou
Shouldst see it on his body?
Hakon [turning round angrily]-
Thrall, thou darest!
Where hast thou got it?
Olaf [takes his hat off, and throws off his cloak] –
On my shoulders, Earl.
Forgive me that I bring it thee myself
In such a way: 'twas easiest for me.
Hakon — What, Olaf! Ha! what treachery is here?
Olaf- Old gray-beard, spare thy rash, heroic wrath.
Attempt not to fight Olaf, but remember
That he has still his head upon his body,
And that thy impotent, gray-bearded strength
Was only fitting for the headless Olaf.
## p. 10768 (#648) ##########################################
10768
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon [rushes at him]-
Ha, Hilfheim!
Olaf [strikes his sword, and says in a loud voice] —
So, be quiet now, I say,
And sheathe thy sword again. My followers
Surround the house; my vessels are a match
For all of thine, and I myself have come
To win the country in an honest fight.
Thyself hast urged me with thy plots to do it.
Thou standest like a despicable thrall
In his own pitfall caught at last; but I
Will make no use of these advantages
Which fate has granted me. I am convinced
That I may boldly meet thee face to face.
Thy purpose, as thou seest, has wholly failed,
And in his own blood does thy Thorer swim.
Thou seest 'twere easy for me to have seized thee;
To strike thee down were even easier still:
But the Christian doctrine do confess,
And do such poor advantages despise.
So choose between two courses. Still be Earl
Of Hlade as thou wast, and do me homage,
Or else take flight; for when we meet again
'Twill be the time for red and bleeding brows.
Hakon [proudly and quietly]-
My choice is made. I choose the latter, Olaf.
Thou callest me a villain and a thrall;
That forces up a smile upon my lips.
Olaf, one hears indeed that thou art young;
It is by mockery and arrogance
That one can judge thy age. Now, look at me
Full in the eyes; consider well my brow:
Hast thou among the thralls e'er met such looks?
Dost think that cunning or that cowardice
Could e'er have carved these wrinkles on my brow?
I did entice thee hither. Ha! 'tis true
I knew that thou didst wait but for a sign
To flutter after the enticing bait;
That in thy soul thou didst more highly prize
Thy kinship with an extinct race of kings
Than great Earl Hakon's world-renownèd deeds;
That thou didst watch the opportunity
――――
To fall upon the old man in his rest.
Does it astonish thee that I should wish
Quickly to rid myself of such a foe?
## p. 10769 (#649) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10769
Olaf-
Remember, Hakon,-
Remember, Hakon, that e'en thou thyself
Hast been a Christian; that thou wast baptized
By Bishop Popo, and that thou since then
Didst break thy oath. How many hast thou broken?
Hakon-Accursed forever may that moment be
--
Olaf -
Hakon
That I deceived a dreamer who despised
The mighty gods,-does that astonish thee?
Does it astonish thee that I approved
My warriors' purpose, since a hostile fate
Attempted to dethrone, not only me,
But all Valhalla's gods?
―――――
When by the cunning monk I was deceived,
And let myself be fooled by paltry tricks.
He held a red-hot iron in his hand,
After by magic he had covered it
With witches' ointment.
O thou blind old man!
Thy silver hair does make me pity thee.
Ha! spare thy pity; as thou seest me here,
Thou seest the last flash and the latest spark
Of ancient Northern force and hero's life;
And that, with all thy fever-stricken dreams,
Proud youth, thou shalt be powerless to quench.
I well do know it is the Christian custom
To pity, to convert, and to amend.
Our custom is to heartily despise you,
To ruminate upon your fall and death,
As foes to gods and to a hero's life.
That Hakon does, and therein does consist
His villainy. By Odin, and by Thor,
Thou shalt not quench old Norway's warlike flame
With all thy misty dreams of piety.
Olaf 'Tis well: fate shall decide. We separate,
And woe to thee when next we meet again.
Hakon — Aye, woe to me if then I crush thee not.
Olaf- Heaven shall strike thee with its fiery might!
Hakon-No, with his hammer Thor the cross will smite!
XVIII-674
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10770 (#650) ##########################################
10770
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
THE SACRIFICE
From Hakon Jarl'
[A golden horn with runic inscription has been brought to Hakon, who
has taken the words-
ER
to signify that he must sacrifice what is most dear to him if he would win in
the impending battle with Olaf Trygvesön. Acting upon this belief, he takes
Erling, his child, at early morn to the sacrificial grove. ]
Enter Earl Hakon, leading Erling by the hand
It is so cold, my father!
RLING
Hakon-
Erling-
-
Hakon-
Hakon
-
―
Erling-
-
――――
-
"Go to the great gods,
Give them thy best»-
Erling [clapping his hands]—What lovely roses, father!
Oh, see the lovely roses, how they blush!
But tell me, my dear father, whence do come
Such masses of these lovely pearls, which are
Strewed over all the valley down below?
Oh, how they glitter up towards the roses!
Those are no pearls; it is but morning dew.
That which thou callest roses is the sun.
Dost see it rise?
Erling-
My dear son,
It is yet early, therefore is it cold;
Thou shiverest, child!
That matters not, my father.
Oh, what a ball of fire!
How crimson red! O father dear, can we
Not travel thither to the morning sun?
Hakon Towards the sun our life must ever strive;
I am so glad that thou didst promise me
That I should see the sun arise to-day;
A sunrise have I never seen before.
Dost see the golden rays which yonder break
Far in the east?
For seest thou that lovely ruddy glow
Which glitters yonder? —that is Odin's eye.
The other, which by night thou seest shine
With a far softer and a paler glow,
Has he now left in pledge in Mimer's well,
That there it may obtain the drink which makes
His eye more fresh and more acute.
And what is Mimer's well?
And where
## p. 10771 (#651) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10771
Hakon -
Erling-
Oh, how on high
It rises up! I can no longer bear
To gaze upon it, for it burns my eyes.
Hakon- The Almighty Father mounts upon his throne,
And soon the whole world will he look upon.
The golden throne doth dazzle earthly eyes;
Who dares presume to gaze upon the king
Of light and day in his full midday glow?
Erling [turning round frightened—
Oh, oh! my father, who are those? such grim
And old white men, who in the shadow stand
Behind the trees there?
Hakon-
Erling
The mighty sea
There, deep below, which dashes 'gainst the rocks,-
That is the deep-dug well of ancient Mimer,
That strengthens Odin's eye; and doubly bright
The sun arises, joyful and refreshed
By the cool morning waves.
Hakon
Speak not so, my son!
Those are the statues of the mighty gods,
Formed in the hard stone by the hands of men.
They do not dazzle us with summer flames;
To them may Askur's sons kneel down in peace,
And gaze with reverence upon their face.
Come, let us go and see them closer, come.
Oh no, my father, I do fear! Dost see
That old, long-bearded, hoary-headed man?
He looks so fierce and grim upon me. Oh,
He makes me quite afraid!
O Erling, Erling!
That is god Odin-art afraid of Odin?
Erling-No, no; of Odin I am not afraid,—
The real Odin yonder in the sky,
He will not harm me: he is good and bright;
He calls forth flowers from the lap of earth,
And like a flower does he gleam himself.
But that white, pallid sorcerer, he stares
As though he sought to take my life-blood.
Hakon
Erling-My father, let me go and fetch my wreath;
I left it hanging yonder on a bush
When thou didst show me when the sun arose:
And let us then go home again, my father,
Away from these grim, ancient statues here;
Ha!
## p. 10772 (#652) ##########################################
10772
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon
For thou mayst well believe the grim old man
Has no good-will towards thee, father dear.
Go fetch thy wreath, child, then come back at once.
[Exit Erling. ]
The sacrificial lamb should be adorned.
Ye mighty gods, behold from Valaskjalf
Earl Hakon's faith and truth confirmed by deeds!
Re-enter Erling with a wreath of flowers round his head
Erling - Here am I, my dear father, with my wreath.
Hakon - Kneel down, my son, to Odin, ere thou goest;
Stretch out thy little hands towards the sky,
And say,
And mercifully take him in thy charge. "
Erling [kneels down, looking towards the sun, stretches out his hands, and
says innocently and childlike]-
Great Father, hear the little Erling's prayer,
And mercifully take him in thy charge!
"Great Father! hear the little Erling's prayer,
—
[Hakon, who stands behind him, draws his dagger while Erling is saying
his prayer, and raises it to strike, but it falls from his hand. Er-
ling turns towards him quietly and confidently, picks up the dagger.
and says, as he gets up off his knees:-]
Hakon-
My father dear, thou'st let thy dagger drop.
How sharp and bright it is! When I am big
Then I shall also have such weapons, and
Will help thee 'gainst thy enemies, my father.
Hakon-What sorcerer is't that places in thy mouth
Such words as these to scare me, and to make
Me tremble?
Erling
O my father! what's the matter?
What has, then, Erling done? Why art thou wroth?
Hakon - Come, Erling, follow me behind the gods.
Erling-Behind the grim men?
Follow, and obey.
Behind the statue do the roses grow;
No pale white roses,- ruddy roses they,
Blood-red and purple roses. Ha! it is
A joy to see how quickly they shoot forth.
Follow, I say,- obey!
Erling [weeping] —
My father dear,
I am so frightened at the purple roses.
Hakon-Away! already Heimdal's cock does crow,
And now the time is come, the time is come!
[Exeunt.
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10773 (#653) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10773
SONG
From Correggio'
THE
HE fairy dwells in the rocky hall,
The pilgrim sits by the waterfall;
The waters tumble as white as snow,
From the rocks above to the pool below:
"Sir Pilgrim, plunge in the dashing spray,
And you shall be my own love alway!
"From the bonds of the body thy soul I'll free;
Thou shalt merrily dance in the woods with me.
Sir Pilgrim, into the waters dash,
And ivory white thy bones I'll wash.
Deep, deep shalt thou rest in my oozy home,
And the waterfall o'er thee shall burst in foam. "
The pilgrim he thrills, and to rise were fain,
But his limbs are so weary, he strives in vain.
The fairy she comes with her golden hair,
And she hands him a goblet of water fair;
He drinks the cool draught, and he feels amain
The frenzy of fever in heart and brain.
It chills his marrow, it chills his blood,
He has drunken of death's deceitful flood;
Pale, pale he sinks on the roses red,—
There lies the pilgrim, and he is dead.
The whirlpool sweeps him far down, and there
His bones 'mongst the sedges lie blanched and bare.
And now from the body the soul is free,
Now at midnight it comes to the greenwood tree:
In spring, when the mountain stream runs high,
His ghost with the fairy goes dancing by;
Then shines through the forest the wan moon's beam,
And through the clear waters his white bones gleam.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
NOUREDDIN READS FROM AN OLD FOLIO
From Aladdin'
IFE'S gladsome child is led by Fortune's hand;
L
And what the sage doth moil to make his prize,
When in the sky the pale stars coldly stand,
From his own breast leaps forth in wondrous wise.
## p. 10774 (#654) ##########################################
10774
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Met by boon Fortune midway, he prevails,
Scarce weeting how, in whatsoe'er he tries.
'Tis ever thus that Fortune freely hails
Her favorite, and on him her blessings showers,
Even as to heaven the scented flower exhales.
Unwooed she comes at unexpected hours;
And little it avails to rack thy brain,
And ask where lurk her long-reluctant powers;
Fain wouldst thou grasp-Hope's portal shuts amain,
And all thy fabric vanishes in air;
Unless foredoomed by Fate thy toils are vain,
Thy aspirations doomed to meet despair.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
OEHLENSCHLÄGER'S ONLY HYMN
TEA
EACH me, O forest, that I may
Like autumn leaves fade glad away,
A fairer spring forecasting;
There green my tree shall glorious stand,
Deep-rooted in the lovely land
Of summer everlasting.
O little bird of passage, thou
Teach me in faith to hie me now
To shores that are uncharted;
When all winter here, and ice,
Then shall eternal Paradise
Open to me, departed.
Teach me, thou butterfly so light,
To break from out my prison plight
That is my freedom robbing;
On earth I creep with lowly things,
But soon the golden-purple wings
Shall high in air be throbbing.
O Thou who smilest from yon sky,
Master and Savior, Christ the high,
Teach me to conquer sorrow.
Let Hope's bright flag enhearten me;
Although Good Friday bitter be,
Fair is the Easter morrow.
Translated by Richard Burton for A Library of the World's Best Literature'
## p. 10775 (#655) ##########################################
10775
THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE JEWISH
APOCRYPHA
BY CRAWFORD H. TOY
THE OLD TESTAMENT
HE greatest interest in the Old Testament has, naturally, at-
tached to its religious thought; and it has sometimes been
forgotten that as the record of the national literature of the
Hebrew people, it deserves to be studied on the literary side. It
need fear no comparison in this regard with the great literatures of
the world. There are forms of literary art in which the Old Testa-
ment has no superior; and in any case, the pleasure which is derived
from it must be increased by a recognition of its literary excel-
lences.
Its prose portion consists of History (in which, for our purposes,
we may include the Legislation) and Prophecy. The former is simple
prose, the latter rhythmical and balanced. We may first consider the
narrative or historical portion.
NARRATIVE PROSE
The Old Testament histories consist almost entirely of annals and
anecdotes,- extracts from yearly records of events, or biographical
material which is made up largely of special incidents. The style is
remarkable for its simplicity. The Semitic languages (to which class
the Hebrew belongs) have no involved syntactical constructions.
Their sentences consist almost entirely of clauses connected by the
simple conjunction "and. " This peculiarity gives picturesqueness and
a certain monumental character to the narratives; each clause stands
out by itself, presenting a single picture. There is no attempt (as in
Greek) to represent elaborate and fine logical connections of thought.
And further, this formal isolatedness, if we may so term it, is not
confined to the structure of the sentence and the paragraph, but also
controls the composition of the historical books. The incidents are
set down as independent occurrences, and there is no attempt to trace
the logical connection between them.
This characteristic is abundantly illustrated in the books of Judges,
Samuel, and Kings. In the first of these books we have a series of
## p. 10776 (#656) ##########################################
10776
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
similar yet unconnected incidents: the land of Israel is conquered or
held in subjection by some neighboring people-a hero arises and
throws off the yoke - there is a period of quiet, followed by a new
epoch of subjection which calls forth another hero; and so on. So
the lives of Saul, David, and Samuel are simple biographies, in
which the incidents are, in like manner, for the most part detached;
and the same remark holds of the history of the reigns of the kings
who succeeded David.
[He follows the warriors.
My brother! is your wound a mortal one?
Yes, Wilhelm. Loose my shoulder scarf, I pray you!
Draw out the scabbard, and give me the scarf,
That I may stanch the blood a little while,
And respite life. Thanks! Lead me over now
To yonder pillar that bears Valborg's name;
Here shall I rest more easily. So! Let me lean
Against the wall, so that I may not fall
In dying.
Wilhelm-
Brother, do you suffer pain?
Axel- No! Light and calm and peaceful is my heart.
Wilhelm- Axel, would you not wish to see your Valborg
Once more before you die?
Axel-
Ah, Wilhelm, yes!
Wilhelm - Then will I hasten up and fetch her straightway.
Axel
Stay yet a moment! It might happen, Wilhelm,
That Axel were no more when Valborg comes.
Then tell the chosen of my heart I died
With Valborg's name upon my lips.
## p. 10760 (#640) ##########################################
10760
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Wilhelm-
Axel-
Wilhelm
Axel-
Wilhelm-
Axel-
Wilhelm
Axel-
-
Tell her that Hakon is a noble hero;
That Axel's confidence was not misplaced
In trusting to his royal heart.
That will I.
I will.
Greet Helfred,-greet my darling sister, Wilhelm!
At Immersborg; and thank her lovingly
For all the thoughts and feelings, joys and sorrows,
She ever shared from childhood with her brother.
Ah, Helfred understood me, knew me well!
Tell her that I have not forgot my sister
In e'en mine hour of death.
Good! I will greet her.
But Valborg first and last! my earnest wish
Is, that whene'er her days on earth are ended,
Axel may slumber by her side.
Your wish
Shall be fulfilled. Hast more to tell me?
Wilhelm-Well then,- I go!
Axel [grasping his hand-
Axel [alone]-
Nay.
My noble, faithful comrade!
Thanks for your friendship and your true devotion.
In deeds you showed it, though in words but seldom.
Take from this feeble hand my life's farewell!
Wilhelm-Farewell, farewell!
Axel-
Wilhelm, was I your friend?
Wilhelm - My only friend! Now have I none remaining.
I die for land and lord, as did my sires.
What honorable Norseman more desires?
O God! with joy my soul doth fly to Thee;
For thou wilt give the chosen of my heart
To be my bride in thine eternity,
Where Axel from his Valborg ne'er shall part.
[The sun shines through the choir window. ]
All hail to thee, thou new-born morning light!
Thou comest to enlighten my dim sight,
And tinge my pallid cheek with thy warm ray.
Soon, soon a morning glow upon me shines,
That never waxes into glaring day;
An evening glow that ne'er to night declines.
[He goes.
## p. 10761 (#641) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10761
My youthful hopes! ye were no shadows vain;-
'Twas mine to love, and to be loved again;
A friend was mine; a noble king God gave,
Whom I have fitted for his station high,
Whom by my death it is my lot to save.
Well, Axel! thou hast lived, so thou canst die.
And see, my Valborg! yonder angels twine
A wreath of blue forget-me-nots like thine.
Then thou shalt never from thine Axel part,
When thou shalt meet him in those realms above,
More worthy of thy beauty and thine heart,
Where 'tis no sin to nourish sacred love.
Farewell, my Valborg!
Wilhelm [coming with Valborg]·
Wilhelm-
Valborg-
-
[He dies.
He is still alive!
He is alive! Heard you? - he spoke of Valborg!
Valborg-I took his life's farewell.
[She gazes on him.
He is no more.
Mine Axel! dost thou live? If thou dost live,
Lift upon me thine eye for the last time,
Thou noble soul! and let thy blessing shine
On Valborg in thy fixed and dying gaze.
He is no more. Ah, he is dead! He died
With Valborg's name upon his lips.
Hast fought thy fight, brave youth!
His king?
Ay, as a hero.
Glorious death!
Far better this than fly to foreign lands,
To spend thy days in barren banishment,
And waste away with grief of heart, my Axel!
Thou sufferest now no longer, heart-loved youth!
Now hast thou won thyself eternal honor.
Thy Fatherland, thy noble mother Norway,
Is proud of Axel- of her gallant son.
For many an age shall thy beloved name
Be heard fresh-sounding on her grateful lips;
At Thing-motes men shall often high extol
Thy hero-deed; while in the ladies' bower,
At eventide old ballads shall be sung,
Recounting Axel's love and faithfulness.
[To Wilhelm] -
How fair he is in death!
Well, thou
Fell he not for
## p. 10762 (#642) ##########################################
10762
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
[To the dead Axel]— Thy golden locks.
Are wildly scattered round thy pallid brow.
[She arranges his hair with her hand. ]
So should it be! This brow must not be covered:
'Tis arched so high and noble, like the heavens.
See how he smiles in death!
Farewell, my Axel!
[She kisses him. ]
Thy Valborg follows soon.
[She rises up, and lays her hand upon her breast, whilst she draws her
breath deeply and heavily. ]
Wilhelm
Ay, soon! ay, soon!
Wilhelm-My noble Valborg, you are pale.
Valborg-
My Axel
Is paler still. Peace, my kind Wilhelm! peace!
Disturb not Valborg in her loneliness.
[With enthusiasm] —
How pleasant seems it here within the church!
How brightly beams the sunshine through the windows,
As at this very hour, my Axel! yesterday,
When first thou pressedst Valborg to thy heart.
How homelike 'tis, how cheerful, in the church!
Here shall we live right happily together,
Peacefully dwelling opposite each other,-
Thou with thy father, Valborg with her mother.
And when the clock strikes twelve, and in yon birch
Outside our window sings each night the thrush,
The wall and marble stones will open wide,
And we shall meet at Harold Gille's grave,
And thence go hand in hand up to the altar,
And sit us down within the moonlit choir
And let the moon with pale and silv'ry light
Beam on our pallid cheeks, and listen to
The thrush's spring song, whilst we call to mind
The memories of our faithful love in life;
Then, when the moonlight passes from the choir,
Go back with slow and melancholy steps,
And walk three times round Harold Gille's tomb;
There shall we pause and take our loving leave
Until the next night comes. Deep in our graves
Then shall we slumber sweetly, whilst the living
Are rioting without.
And Axel's wish
Was to be buried in one grave with Valborg.
## p. 10763 (#643) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10763
Valborg - In one same grave? Ah, that were glorious, but
It may not be, my noble knight! Alas!
Axel and Valborg never were betrothed.
It may not be; yet how much would I give,
That the same coffin might contain both Valborg's
And Axel's bones!
Wilhelm
―
[She gazes down before her. ]
But, noble Wilhelm, tell me
What glistens in the dust, in yonder crevice
Of Harold's tombstone?
See I right, it is
A ring.
Wilhelm-
Valborg
Valborg-
A ring?
Wilhelm [takes it up]— Yes, it is Axel's ring.
Valborg - Axel's? Did it not roll into the grave?
O our forefather! now I understand thee; —
I understood thee then. Give me my ring!
-
[She places it upon her finger. ]
Now am I truly thy betrothed, my Axel!
Now am I Axel's bride! Now may we be
Buried together in one grave.
Poor girl!
"Poor girl? Nay, Wilhelm! happy, happy girl.
Is it not true, my noble friend, I call you
My friend, for you were Axel Thordson's friend,-
Is it not true, my friend, you know the ballad
Of Knight Sir Aage and of Lady Else?
Wilhelm — The Danish bishop taught it to my mother;
And she, in early childhood, taught it me.
Valborg - And you remember it?
Wilhelm-
Yes, perfectly.
Valborg — Oh, that is well! My Axel told me that
You have a noble voice; not delicate
And soft, like that which pleases men in life,
But deep, and strong, and solemn,- as a voice
From out the grave. Well, noble Wilhelm, will
You show me now the kindness, for the sake
Of him who was your friend, to sing this ballad
For Valborg, whilst in recompense she places
Her ring upon his cold and lifeless hand?
Wilhelm - Yes, I will do it, if it comforts you.
Valborg - My Axel too has told me that you are
A skilled musician on the harp.
-
## p. 10764 (#644) ##########################################
10764
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Wilhelm-
Its tones
Full oft have lulled my troubled soul to rest.
Valborg-Well, see in yonder corner, dearest Wilhelm,
Close by my mother's grave, there stands a harp.
How many a sleepless night has Valborg's voice
Risen to its tuneful notes among the tombs!
How many a time has she to it begun
Aage's and Else's ballad! Never yet
I sang it to the end; for hot tears choked
My feeble voice. To you, my noble knight,
To you a stronger nature God has given;
So take the tunèd harp, and sit you down
By yonder pillar, opposite my Axel,
And sing the mournful ballad to the end,
Whilst Valborg kneels beside her Axel's corpse;
And do not rise, I pray, till all is o'er,
And Else is to Aage joined in death.
Wilhelm-I sing thee comfort in the morning dawn.
[Valborg kneels down beside Axel's corpse; Wilhelm takes the harp, sits
down, and sings. ]
*"It was the fair knight Aagen:
To an isle he went his way,
And plighted troth to Else,
Who was so fair a may.
He plighted troth to Else
All with the ruddy gold;
But or ere that day's moon came again,
Low he lay in the black, black mold.
"It was the maiden Else:
She was fulfilled of woe
When she heard how the fair knight Aagen
In the black mold lay alow.
Uprose the fair knight Aagen,
Coffin on back took he,
And he's away to her bower
Sore hard as the work might be.
"With that same chest on door he smote,
For the lack of flesh and skin;
'O hearken, maiden Else,
And let thy true love in. '
*Mr. Butler's version of this famous ballad is a creditable one; but the
translation made by William Morris far surpasses it in beauty, and is here
substituted.
## p. 10765 (#645) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10765
[Wilhelm ceases.
der. ]
Then answered maiden Else,
'Never open I my door,
But and if thou namest Jesu's name
As thou hadst might before! '—
"Oh, whenso thou art joyous,
And the heart is glad in thee,
Then fares it with my coffin
That red roses are with me;
But whenso thou art sorrowful,
And weary is thy mood,
Then all within my coffin
Is it dreadful with dark blood.
«Now is the red cock a-crowing,-
To the earth adown must I;
Down to the earth wend all dead folk,
And I wend in company.
Look thou up to the heavens aloft
To the little stars and bright,
And thou shalt see how sweetly
It fareth with the night. '
"She looked up to the heavens aloft,
To the little stars bright above;
The dead man sank into his grave,-
Ne'er again she saw her love.
Home then went maiden Else,
Mid sorrow manifold,
And ere that night's moon came again
She lay alow in the mold. "
Valborg lies motionless with her head upon Axel's shoul
Wilhelm - The song is ended, noble Valborg! [He rises. ] Valborg,
Rise up again: my song is ended now.
Valborg! She does not move. Cold, pale! She breathes
No longer. Heaven! I had foreboded it!
Valborg is dead! As Nanna with her Baldur;
As with her Hjalmar, Ingeborg; as Else
With Ridder Aage. Her true heart has broken
With sorrow o'er the body of her Axel.
O Northern faithfulness, how strong thou art!
There lie they both, in one another's arms,
Lifeless, but now one life, one soul with God.
## p. 10766 (#646) ##########################################
10766
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Gotfred [comes]—
Wilhelm
And Wilhelm had to sing your funeral dirge!
Well, it was but the tribute due to friendship.
[Martial music outside the scene. ]
Hakon is fallen: Erling is victorious.
They bring the body of the king.
Wilhelm [drawing his sword]—
The Gille's race is utterly extinct.
Be speedy, Gotfred! Hasten to the bishop;
Take him on board our ship; await me there;
Ere sunset we will sail from Throndhjem's Fiord.
[Gotfred goes. ]
HAK
And so
And now go, dearest, best beloved friends.
Until the grave shall open, and unite
What life had parted, shall your Wilhelm show
The honor due by friendship to your dust.
I will keep watch beside you; I will lay
Thy shield and sword, brave knight! upon thy coffin,
Encircled by thy maiden's wreath of flowers;
And on the shining plate will I engrave,
"Here Axel Thordson and fair Valborg rest;
He for his king, she for her lover died. "
Translation of Pierce Butler.
THE FOES
From Hakon Jarl'
[Hakon's dominion is menaced by Olaf Trygvesön, who has invaded the
land and seeks to substitute the faith of the Christian for that of the heathen.
In his extremity, Hakon resorts to foul means, and hires one Thorer Klake to
assassinate King Olaf. The attempt is unsuccessful, for Thorer Klake falls a
victim to his own treachery; and Olaf Trygvesön himself seeks out Hakon in
the peasant hut to which he has retired. ]
Enter Olaf Trygvesön, muffled up in a gray cloak, with a broad hat on
his head.
AKON [without looking up]-
-
My valiant Thorer Klake, hast come at last?
Hast been successful? Dost thou bring to me
What thou didst promise? Answer, Thorer Klake.
## p. 10767 (#647) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10767
Olaf All things have happened as they should, my lord;
But pardon Thorer that he does not come
And bring himself King Olaf's head to thee
'Twas difficult for him. Thor knows he had
A sort of loathing that himself should bring it,
And so he sent me.
Hakon
Well, 'tis good; away,
And deeply bury it in the dark earth.
I will not look on it myself: my eye
Bears not such sights,- they reappear in dreams.
Bury the body with it. Tell thy lord
That he shall come at once.
He is asleep.
A midday slumber; he lies stretched
Stiffly beneath a shadowy elder-tree.
Hakon- Then wake him up. [Aside. ] Asleep, and after such
A deed Ha! Thorer, I admire thee;
Thou hast rare courage. [Aloud. ] Thrall, go wake him up.
Olaf- But wilt thou first not look at Olaf's head?
Hakon-No; I have said no.
Olaf-
Olaf-
Hakon- Asleep?
Olaf -
Thou dost think, my lord,
That perhaps it is a horrid frightful sight:
It is not so, my lord; for Olaf's head
Looks fresh and sound as any in the land.
Hakon-Away, I tell thee!
Olaf -
I ne'er saw the like:
always heard that Hakon was a hero,
Few like him in the North,- and does he fear
To see a lifeless and a corpseless head?
How wouldst thou tremble then, my lord, if thou
Shouldst see it on his body?
Hakon [turning round angrily]-
Thrall, thou darest!
Where hast thou got it?
Olaf [takes his hat off, and throws off his cloak] –
On my shoulders, Earl.
Forgive me that I bring it thee myself
In such a way: 'twas easiest for me.
Hakon — What, Olaf! Ha! what treachery is here?
Olaf- Old gray-beard, spare thy rash, heroic wrath.
Attempt not to fight Olaf, but remember
That he has still his head upon his body,
And that thy impotent, gray-bearded strength
Was only fitting for the headless Olaf.
## p. 10768 (#648) ##########################################
10768
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon [rushes at him]-
Ha, Hilfheim!
Olaf [strikes his sword, and says in a loud voice] —
So, be quiet now, I say,
And sheathe thy sword again. My followers
Surround the house; my vessels are a match
For all of thine, and I myself have come
To win the country in an honest fight.
Thyself hast urged me with thy plots to do it.
Thou standest like a despicable thrall
In his own pitfall caught at last; but I
Will make no use of these advantages
Which fate has granted me. I am convinced
That I may boldly meet thee face to face.
Thy purpose, as thou seest, has wholly failed,
And in his own blood does thy Thorer swim.
Thou seest 'twere easy for me to have seized thee;
To strike thee down were even easier still:
But the Christian doctrine do confess,
And do such poor advantages despise.
So choose between two courses. Still be Earl
Of Hlade as thou wast, and do me homage,
Or else take flight; for when we meet again
'Twill be the time for red and bleeding brows.
Hakon [proudly and quietly]-
My choice is made. I choose the latter, Olaf.
Thou callest me a villain and a thrall;
That forces up a smile upon my lips.
Olaf, one hears indeed that thou art young;
It is by mockery and arrogance
That one can judge thy age. Now, look at me
Full in the eyes; consider well my brow:
Hast thou among the thralls e'er met such looks?
Dost think that cunning or that cowardice
Could e'er have carved these wrinkles on my brow?
I did entice thee hither. Ha! 'tis true
I knew that thou didst wait but for a sign
To flutter after the enticing bait;
That in thy soul thou didst more highly prize
Thy kinship with an extinct race of kings
Than great Earl Hakon's world-renownèd deeds;
That thou didst watch the opportunity
――――
To fall upon the old man in his rest.
Does it astonish thee that I should wish
Quickly to rid myself of such a foe?
## p. 10769 (#649) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10769
Olaf-
Remember, Hakon,-
Remember, Hakon, that e'en thou thyself
Hast been a Christian; that thou wast baptized
By Bishop Popo, and that thou since then
Didst break thy oath. How many hast thou broken?
Hakon-Accursed forever may that moment be
--
Olaf -
Hakon
That I deceived a dreamer who despised
The mighty gods,-does that astonish thee?
Does it astonish thee that I approved
My warriors' purpose, since a hostile fate
Attempted to dethrone, not only me,
But all Valhalla's gods?
―――――
When by the cunning monk I was deceived,
And let myself be fooled by paltry tricks.
He held a red-hot iron in his hand,
After by magic he had covered it
With witches' ointment.
O thou blind old man!
Thy silver hair does make me pity thee.
Ha! spare thy pity; as thou seest me here,
Thou seest the last flash and the latest spark
Of ancient Northern force and hero's life;
And that, with all thy fever-stricken dreams,
Proud youth, thou shalt be powerless to quench.
I well do know it is the Christian custom
To pity, to convert, and to amend.
Our custom is to heartily despise you,
To ruminate upon your fall and death,
As foes to gods and to a hero's life.
That Hakon does, and therein does consist
His villainy. By Odin, and by Thor,
Thou shalt not quench old Norway's warlike flame
With all thy misty dreams of piety.
Olaf 'Tis well: fate shall decide. We separate,
And woe to thee when next we meet again.
Hakon — Aye, woe to me if then I crush thee not.
Olaf- Heaven shall strike thee with its fiery might!
Hakon-No, with his hammer Thor the cross will smite!
XVIII-674
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10770 (#650) ##########################################
10770
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
THE SACRIFICE
From Hakon Jarl'
[A golden horn with runic inscription has been brought to Hakon, who
has taken the words-
ER
to signify that he must sacrifice what is most dear to him if he would win in
the impending battle with Olaf Trygvesön. Acting upon this belief, he takes
Erling, his child, at early morn to the sacrificial grove. ]
Enter Earl Hakon, leading Erling by the hand
It is so cold, my father!
RLING
Hakon-
Erling-
-
Hakon-
Hakon
-
―
Erling-
-
――――
-
"Go to the great gods,
Give them thy best»-
Erling [clapping his hands]—What lovely roses, father!
Oh, see the lovely roses, how they blush!
But tell me, my dear father, whence do come
Such masses of these lovely pearls, which are
Strewed over all the valley down below?
Oh, how they glitter up towards the roses!
Those are no pearls; it is but morning dew.
That which thou callest roses is the sun.
Dost see it rise?
Erling-
My dear son,
It is yet early, therefore is it cold;
Thou shiverest, child!
That matters not, my father.
Oh, what a ball of fire!
How crimson red! O father dear, can we
Not travel thither to the morning sun?
Hakon Towards the sun our life must ever strive;
I am so glad that thou didst promise me
That I should see the sun arise to-day;
A sunrise have I never seen before.
Dost see the golden rays which yonder break
Far in the east?
For seest thou that lovely ruddy glow
Which glitters yonder? —that is Odin's eye.
The other, which by night thou seest shine
With a far softer and a paler glow,
Has he now left in pledge in Mimer's well,
That there it may obtain the drink which makes
His eye more fresh and more acute.
And what is Mimer's well?
And where
## p. 10771 (#651) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10771
Hakon -
Erling-
Oh, how on high
It rises up! I can no longer bear
To gaze upon it, for it burns my eyes.
Hakon- The Almighty Father mounts upon his throne,
And soon the whole world will he look upon.
The golden throne doth dazzle earthly eyes;
Who dares presume to gaze upon the king
Of light and day in his full midday glow?
Erling [turning round frightened—
Oh, oh! my father, who are those? such grim
And old white men, who in the shadow stand
Behind the trees there?
Hakon-
Erling
The mighty sea
There, deep below, which dashes 'gainst the rocks,-
That is the deep-dug well of ancient Mimer,
That strengthens Odin's eye; and doubly bright
The sun arises, joyful and refreshed
By the cool morning waves.
Hakon
Speak not so, my son!
Those are the statues of the mighty gods,
Formed in the hard stone by the hands of men.
They do not dazzle us with summer flames;
To them may Askur's sons kneel down in peace,
And gaze with reverence upon their face.
Come, let us go and see them closer, come.
Oh no, my father, I do fear! Dost see
That old, long-bearded, hoary-headed man?
He looks so fierce and grim upon me. Oh,
He makes me quite afraid!
O Erling, Erling!
That is god Odin-art afraid of Odin?
Erling-No, no; of Odin I am not afraid,—
The real Odin yonder in the sky,
He will not harm me: he is good and bright;
He calls forth flowers from the lap of earth,
And like a flower does he gleam himself.
But that white, pallid sorcerer, he stares
As though he sought to take my life-blood.
Hakon
Erling-My father, let me go and fetch my wreath;
I left it hanging yonder on a bush
When thou didst show me when the sun arose:
And let us then go home again, my father,
Away from these grim, ancient statues here;
Ha!
## p. 10772 (#652) ##########################################
10772
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Hakon
For thou mayst well believe the grim old man
Has no good-will towards thee, father dear.
Go fetch thy wreath, child, then come back at once.
[Exit Erling. ]
The sacrificial lamb should be adorned.
Ye mighty gods, behold from Valaskjalf
Earl Hakon's faith and truth confirmed by deeds!
Re-enter Erling with a wreath of flowers round his head
Erling - Here am I, my dear father, with my wreath.
Hakon - Kneel down, my son, to Odin, ere thou goest;
Stretch out thy little hands towards the sky,
And say,
And mercifully take him in thy charge. "
Erling [kneels down, looking towards the sun, stretches out his hands, and
says innocently and childlike]-
Great Father, hear the little Erling's prayer,
And mercifully take him in thy charge!
"Great Father! hear the little Erling's prayer,
—
[Hakon, who stands behind him, draws his dagger while Erling is saying
his prayer, and raises it to strike, but it falls from his hand. Er-
ling turns towards him quietly and confidently, picks up the dagger.
and says, as he gets up off his knees:-]
Hakon-
My father dear, thou'st let thy dagger drop.
How sharp and bright it is! When I am big
Then I shall also have such weapons, and
Will help thee 'gainst thy enemies, my father.
Hakon-What sorcerer is't that places in thy mouth
Such words as these to scare me, and to make
Me tremble?
Erling
O my father! what's the matter?
What has, then, Erling done? Why art thou wroth?
Hakon - Come, Erling, follow me behind the gods.
Erling-Behind the grim men?
Follow, and obey.
Behind the statue do the roses grow;
No pale white roses,- ruddy roses they,
Blood-red and purple roses. Ha! it is
A joy to see how quickly they shoot forth.
Follow, I say,- obey!
Erling [weeping] —
My father dear,
I am so frightened at the purple roses.
Hakon-Away! already Heimdal's cock does crow,
And now the time is come, the time is come!
[Exeunt.
Translation of Frank C. Lascelles.
## p. 10773 (#653) ##########################################
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
10773
SONG
From Correggio'
THE
HE fairy dwells in the rocky hall,
The pilgrim sits by the waterfall;
The waters tumble as white as snow,
From the rocks above to the pool below:
"Sir Pilgrim, plunge in the dashing spray,
And you shall be my own love alway!
"From the bonds of the body thy soul I'll free;
Thou shalt merrily dance in the woods with me.
Sir Pilgrim, into the waters dash,
And ivory white thy bones I'll wash.
Deep, deep shalt thou rest in my oozy home,
And the waterfall o'er thee shall burst in foam. "
The pilgrim he thrills, and to rise were fain,
But his limbs are so weary, he strives in vain.
The fairy she comes with her golden hair,
And she hands him a goblet of water fair;
He drinks the cool draught, and he feels amain
The frenzy of fever in heart and brain.
It chills his marrow, it chills his blood,
He has drunken of death's deceitful flood;
Pale, pale he sinks on the roses red,—
There lies the pilgrim, and he is dead.
The whirlpool sweeps him far down, and there
His bones 'mongst the sedges lie blanched and bare.
And now from the body the soul is free,
Now at midnight it comes to the greenwood tree:
In spring, when the mountain stream runs high,
His ghost with the fairy goes dancing by;
Then shines through the forest the wan moon's beam,
And through the clear waters his white bones gleam.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
NOUREDDIN READS FROM AN OLD FOLIO
From Aladdin'
IFE'S gladsome child is led by Fortune's hand;
L
And what the sage doth moil to make his prize,
When in the sky the pale stars coldly stand,
From his own breast leaps forth in wondrous wise.
## p. 10774 (#654) ##########################################
10774
ADAM GOTTLOB OEHLENSCHLÄGER
Met by boon Fortune midway, he prevails,
Scarce weeting how, in whatsoe'er he tries.
'Tis ever thus that Fortune freely hails
Her favorite, and on him her blessings showers,
Even as to heaven the scented flower exhales.
Unwooed she comes at unexpected hours;
And little it avails to rack thy brain,
And ask where lurk her long-reluctant powers;
Fain wouldst thou grasp-Hope's portal shuts amain,
And all thy fabric vanishes in air;
Unless foredoomed by Fate thy toils are vain,
Thy aspirations doomed to meet despair.
Translation of Sir Theodore Martin.
OEHLENSCHLÄGER'S ONLY HYMN
TEA
EACH me, O forest, that I may
Like autumn leaves fade glad away,
A fairer spring forecasting;
There green my tree shall glorious stand,
Deep-rooted in the lovely land
Of summer everlasting.
O little bird of passage, thou
Teach me in faith to hie me now
To shores that are uncharted;
When all winter here, and ice,
Then shall eternal Paradise
Open to me, departed.
Teach me, thou butterfly so light,
To break from out my prison plight
That is my freedom robbing;
On earth I creep with lowly things,
But soon the golden-purple wings
Shall high in air be throbbing.
O Thou who smilest from yon sky,
Master and Savior, Christ the high,
Teach me to conquer sorrow.
Let Hope's bright flag enhearten me;
Although Good Friday bitter be,
Fair is the Easter morrow.
Translated by Richard Burton for A Library of the World's Best Literature'
## p. 10775 (#655) ##########################################
10775
THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE JEWISH
APOCRYPHA
BY CRAWFORD H. TOY
THE OLD TESTAMENT
HE greatest interest in the Old Testament has, naturally, at-
tached to its religious thought; and it has sometimes been
forgotten that as the record of the national literature of the
Hebrew people, it deserves to be studied on the literary side. It
need fear no comparison in this regard with the great literatures of
the world. There are forms of literary art in which the Old Testa-
ment has no superior; and in any case, the pleasure which is derived
from it must be increased by a recognition of its literary excel-
lences.
Its prose portion consists of History (in which, for our purposes,
we may include the Legislation) and Prophecy. The former is simple
prose, the latter rhythmical and balanced. We may first consider the
narrative or historical portion.
NARRATIVE PROSE
The Old Testament histories consist almost entirely of annals and
anecdotes,- extracts from yearly records of events, or biographical
material which is made up largely of special incidents. The style is
remarkable for its simplicity. The Semitic languages (to which class
the Hebrew belongs) have no involved syntactical constructions.
Their sentences consist almost entirely of clauses connected by the
simple conjunction "and. " This peculiarity gives picturesqueness and
a certain monumental character to the narratives; each clause stands
out by itself, presenting a single picture. There is no attempt (as in
Greek) to represent elaborate and fine logical connections of thought.
And further, this formal isolatedness, if we may so term it, is not
confined to the structure of the sentence and the paragraph, but also
controls the composition of the historical books. The incidents are
set down as independent occurrences, and there is no attempt to trace
the logical connection between them.
This characteristic is abundantly illustrated in the books of Judges,
Samuel, and Kings. In the first of these books we have a series of
## p. 10776 (#656) ##########################################
10776
OLD TESTAMENT AND JEWISH APOCRYPHA
similar yet unconnected incidents: the land of Israel is conquered or
held in subjection by some neighboring people-a hero arises and
throws off the yoke - there is a period of quiet, followed by a new
epoch of subjection which calls forth another hero; and so on. So
the lives of Saul, David, and Samuel are simple biographies, in
which the incidents are, in like manner, for the most part detached;
and the same remark holds of the history of the reigns of the kings
who succeeded David.
