Gave power and vengeance to the steel;
When the dark dwarf-king in his ire
Begirt it thrice with central fire,
And thrice denounced, in accents dread,
His curse upon the victor’s head,
Who bore it from its flaming bed.
I know that curse, whate’er it be,
Has not been all fulfilled in thee;
That he who dares this sword to wield
Must his own heart its victim yield:—