Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/155

Rh And bind thy carcass, like a bale, with cords,

And hurl thee in a lake, to sink or swim!

If clear from plotting Balder's death, to swim;

But deep, if thou devisedst it, to drown,

And perish, against fate, before thy day."

So they two soft to one another spake.

But Odin looked toward the land, and saw

His messenger; and he stood forth, and cried.

And Hermod came, and leapt from Sleipner down,

And in his father's hand put Sleipner's rein,

And greeted Odin and the gods, and said,—

"Odin, my father, and ye, gods of heaven!

Lo, home, having performed your will, I come.

Into the joyless kingdom have I been,

Below, and looked upon the shadowy tribes

Of ghosts, and communed with their solemn queen;

And to your prayer she sends you this reply:—

Show her through all the world the signs of grief!

Fails but one thing to grieve, there Balder stops!

Let gods, men, brutes, beweep him; plants and stones.

So shall she know your loss was dear indeed,

And bend her heart, and give you Balder back."

He spoke, and all the gods to Odin looked;

And straight the Father of the ages said,—

"Ye gods, these terms may keep another day.

But now put on your arms, and mount your steeds,

And in procession all come near, and weep

Balder; for that is what the dead desire.

When ye enough have wept, then build a pile

Of the heaped wood, and burn his corpse with fire

Out of our sight; that we may turn from grief,

And lead, as erst, our daily life in heaven."

He spoke, and the gods armed; and Odin donned

His dazzling corslet and his helm of gold,