The Judgement of Valhalla

by Gilbert Frankau

VALHALLA’S VERDICT

It heard the Song of the Gunner-Dead die out to a sullen roar:

But Nakéd Truth said never a word; and Eye peered down no more.

For Eye had seen; and Truth had judged ... and It might not pass the Door!

And now, like a dog in the dark, It shrank from the voice of a man It knew:—

“There are empty seats at the Banquet-board, but there’s never a seat for you;

For they will not drink with a coward soul, the stark red men who slew.

There’s meat and to spare, at the Killer-Feasts where Thor’s swung hammer twirls;

There’s beer and enough, in the Free Canteen where the Endless Smoke upcurls;

There are lips and lips, for the Killer-Men, in the Hall of the Dancing-Girls.