"Upon a far and ice-peak'd coast
My galleys by long winds were toss'd—
There Gisli feasted with his host.
"Of warriors triumphant—he
Strode out from harps and revelry;
And sped his shaft above the sea!
"Look, father, doth my heart bleed yet?
His arrow Brynhild's arrow met—
My gallies anchor'd in their rest.
"Again their arrows meet—swift lies
That pierc'd me from their smiling eyes;
How fiercely hard a man's heart dies!
"She false—he false! There came a day
Pierc'd by the fierce chief's spear I lay—
My ghost rose shrieking from its clay.
"I saw on Brynhild's golden vest
The shining locks of Gisli rest;
I sought the Hell-way to the Blest.
"Father, put forth thy hand and tear
Their twin shafts from my heart, all bare
To thee—they rankle death—like there!
* * * * *
Said the voice of Evil to the ear of Good,
"Clasp thou my strong, right hand,
"Nor shall our clasp be known or understood
"By any in the land."
"I, the dark giant, rule strongly on the earth,
"Yet thou, bright one, and I
"Sprang from the one great mystery—at one birth
"We looked upon the sky!