CANTATA.
This is Denmark’s holyday;
Dance, ye maidens!
Sing, ye men!
Tune, ye harpers!
Blush, ye heroes!
This is Denmark’s holyday.
ONE VOICE.
In right’s enjoyment, in the arm of love,
Beneath the olive’s shadow,
The Daneman sat;
Whilst wet and steaming wav’d the bloody flag
Above the regions of the sunny South.
Pure was our heaven,—
Pure and blue;
For, with his pinions, angel Peace dispell’d
All reek and vapour from mild virtue’s sphere;
Then lower’d Battle’s blood-bespatter’d son
Upon our coast,—
And haggard Envy lent to him her torch,
Which sparkled high with hell’s sulphureous light,
Then fled the genius of peace, and wept.
A SECOND VOICE.
But mighty thunders peal’d; the earth it shook,
While rattled all the moss-grown giant stones, [24]
And Oldom’s sunken grave-hill rais’d itself;
Then started Skiold and Frodé,
And Svend, and Knud, and Waldemar, [25]
In copper hauberks up, and pointing to
Rust-spots of blood on faulchion and on shield—
They vanish’d:
And in the Gothic aisles, high arch’d and dim,
Wild flutter’d of itself, the ancient banner
Which hung above a hero’s bones;
The faulchion clatter’d loud and ceaselessly
Within the tomb of Christian the Fourth, [26]
By Tordenskiold’s [27] chapel on the strand,
Wild rose the daring Mermaid’s witching song;
The stones were loosen’d round about the grave
Where lay great Juul;
And Hvidtfeld, clad in a transparent mist,
With smiles cherubic beaming on his face,
Stray’d, arm in arm, with his heroic brothers,
Along the deep.
CHORUS.
We felt the presence of one and all;
The old flags wav’d in the arsenal,
A wondrous spirit went round, went round
The Northern ground.
ONE VOICE.
Then waken’d Thor, [28]
And drew around his loins the mighty belt
Of bear-sinews;
With love fraternal harden’d he his shield,
With eager haste he sharp’d his blunted glaive,
And, with the iron of his hammer, touch’d
Each Dane’s and every Norman’s breast—
Shot his heroic flame therein, and smil’d!
MANY VOICES.
And Denmark and Norway smil’d.
LOUD CHORUS.
Upon the water,
Upon the land,
We boun’d for slaughter,
At Thor’s command.
MAIDENS.
Then fell our tears so quickly,
We breath’d, we breath’d so thickly,
While scarce our lips could stammer forth
Prayers for you, and for the North.
MATRONS.
And we, and we, with breasts that smarted,
Knelt, lowly knelt, whilst firm ye stood,
From us and from affection parted,
In reek and smoke, in brothers’ blood!
CHORUS OF MEN.
Tenderness comes from God;
Woman and man in its praise should sing;
But tenderness flies at honour’s nod;
We offer all up to our land and King.
ONE VOICE.
What sang ye, warlike throngs?
Repeat, repeat this day,
One of the simple, nervous, songs
Ye murmur’d out, when, hot with wrongs,
Ye waited the coming fray.
UNIVERSAL CHORUS.
We love, we all love thee, beneficent Peace, &c.
SOLO.
Like the wave of the wild North main,
Foaming and frothing came on our foe;
Proud of his triumphs, proud of his train,
He thought to lay us low:
But, from Denmark’s lines of oak,
A horrible, horrible volley outbroke;
Then tumbled his mast,
His courage fell fast;
And the wave, which resembled his furious mood,
Was now with his blood embrued.
CHORUS.
This is Denmark’s holyday;
Dance, ye maidens!
Sing, ye men!
Tune, ye harpers!
Blush, ye heroes!
This is Denmark’s holyday.
A VOICE.
But, hark! what sobbing and what mournful notes
Are mixing with our hymns of ardent joy!
Hush, hush, be still;
A band of white-rob’d maids approaches slow,
With lily chaplets round their yellow locks,
With heavy tear-drops in their sunken eye;
Broken and trembling sounds
The melancholy song,
Accompanied by harp-tones rising mild.
YOUTHFUL MAIDENS.
Love, with rosy fetter,
Held us firmly bound;
Pure unmix’d enjoyment
Grateful here we found.
Bosom, bosom meeting,
’Gainst our youths we press’d;
Bright the moon arose, then,
Glad to see us blest.
Denmark’s honour beckon’d,
Loud the canon roar’d;
Perish’d in the battle
They whom we ador’d.
Sweet is, grave, thy slumber,
Free from care and noise;
Short are earthly sorrows,—
Endless heaven’s joys.
SUDDEN CHORUS OF THE SLAIN WARRIORS IS HEARD FROM ON HIGH.
From the heavenly, clear, invisible, home
Our voices come:
No joy can resemble the joy which reigns
In our seraph veins.
Lov’d ones, lov’d ones, weep for us not,
Soon shall ye here partake of our lot;
High o’er the stars’ extremest line
The sun of affection more bright shall shine:
Brothers, brothers, ’t is sweet to die
For the land of our birth, and the maid of our eye.
Blest are ye who like us shall fall;
The righteous Jehovah rewards, above,
Courage and love:
Hallelujah, peace be with you all!
THE HAIL-STORM.
FROM THE NORSE.
Sigvald Jarl was a famous Sea Rover, who, when unengaged in his predatory expeditions, resided at Jomsborg, in Denmark. He was the terror of the Norwegian coasts, which he ravaged and pillaged almost at his pleasure. Hacon Jarl, who at that time sat on the Norwegian throne, being informed that Sigvald meditated a grand descent, and knowing that he himself was unable to oppose him, had recourse to his God, Thorgerd, to whom he sacrificed his son Erling. In what manner Thorgerd assisted him and his forces, when the Danes landed, will best be learned from the bold song which the circumstance gave rise to, and which the following is a feeble attempt to translate.
When from our ships we bounded,
I heard, with fear astounded,
The storm of Thorgerd’s waking,
From Northern vapours breaking;
With flinty masses blended,
Gigantic hail descended,
And thick and fiercely rattled
Against us there embattled.
To aid the hostile maces,
It drifted in our faces;
It drifted, dealing slaughter,
And blood ran out like water—
Ran reeking, red, and horrid,
From batter’d cheek and forehead;
We plied our swords, but no men
Can stand ’gainst hail and foemen.
And demon Thorgerd raging
To see us still engaging,
Shot, downward from the heaven,
His shafts of flaming levin;
Then sank our brave in numbers,
To cold eternal slumbers;
There lay the good and gallant,
Renown’d for warlike talent.
Our captain, this perceiving,
The signal made for leaving,
And with his ship departed,
Downcast and broken-hearted;
War, death, and consternation,
Pursu’d our embarkation;
We did our best, but no men
Can stand ’gainst hail and foemen.