Methinks, to tell thee truth, my gentle swain!

All goes not right in thy fond master’s brain.”

And now his master’s actions and his fate

Did Skirnir circumstantially relate:

How he ascended Hlidskialf’s lofty tower,

And what from thence he view’d in Gerda’s bower:

How, when her charms she bared, love’s potent dart

At once transfix’d his vacillating heart.

With downcast look and palpitating breast,

Deep blushing, Gerda listen’d to her guest.