( 229 )
ocean seemed as one wound: the ravens waded in the blood of the slain.
******
“We fought with swords, in the day
of that great fight, wherein I sent the
inhabitants of Helsing to the Hall of
Odin. Thence our ships carried us to
Isa[1]: there our
steel-pointed launces,
reeking with gore, divided the armour
with a terrible clang: there our swords
cleft the shields asunder.
******
“We fought with swords, that day
wherein I saw ten thousand of my foes
rolling in the dust near a promontory of
England. A dew of blood distilled from
our swords. The arrows which flew in
search of the helmets, bellowed through
the air. The pleasure of that day was
equal to that of clasping a fair virgin in
my arms[2].
- ↑ Or the Vistula.
- ↑
I cannot help thinking, that the Reader will
censure our ingenious Author, as not having here
exerted his usual good
taste in selecting, when he
finds he has omitted such
stanzas as the following,
particularly the two last.
“We fought with swords, in the Northumbrian land. A furious storm descended on the shields: