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 xc THE DISCOVERER OF THE NORTH CAPE

OTHERE, the old sea-captain,

Who dwelt in Helgoland, To King Alfred, the Lover of Truth, Brought a snow-white walrus-tooth,

Which he held in his brown right hand.

His figure was tall and stately, Like a boy's his eye appeared;

His hair was yellow as hay,

But threads of a silvery grey Gleamed in his tawny beard.

Hearty and hale was Othere,

His cheek had the colour of oak;

With a kind of laugh in his speech,

Like the sea-tide on a beach, As unto the king he spoke.

And Alfred, King of the Saxons,

Had a book upon his knees, And wrote down the wondrous tale Of him who was first to sail

Into the Arctic seas.

'So far I live to the northward,

No man lives north of me; To the east are wild mountain-chains, And beyond them meres and plains;

To the westward all is sea.

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