Page:Songs, Legends, and Ballads.djvu/294

280 That woe was hers and theirs; whereas the band Of white-skinned men did not as brethren seem.

But now, behold! a man, whom one would deem From eye and mien, wherever met, a King, Did stand beside the woman. No youth's spring Was in the foot that naked pressed the sand; No warrior's might was in the long dark hand That waved his people backward; no bright gold Of lace or armor glittered; gaunt and old,— A belt, half apron, made of emu-down, Upon his loins; upon his head no crown Save only that which eighty years did trace In whitened hair above his furrowed face. Nigh nude he was: a short fur boka hung In toga-folds upon his back, but flung From his right arm and shoulder,—ever there The spear-arm of the warrior is bare.

So stood he nigh the woman, gaunt and wild But king-like, spearless, looking on the child That lay with livid face upon her knees.