XVII.
"'Friend of my youth! shall I remain
When ye are gone before?'
He drew the wood from out his side,
And loosed the crimson gore.
XVIII.
"Falling, he raised his broken spear,
Thrice wav'd it o'er his head,
Thrice raised the warrior's cry 'revenge!'—
His soul was with the dead.
XIX.
"Now, one by one, the wounded braves
Homeward were seen to wend,
Each holding on his saddle bow
A dead or dying friend.
XX.
"Two galliards bore the Eesa's son,
The corpse was stark and bare—
Low moaned the maid, the mother smote
Her breast in mute despair.
XXI.
"The father bent him o'er the dead,
The wounds were all before;
Again his brow, in sorrow clad,
The garb of gladness wore.
XXII.
"'Ho! sit ye down, nor mourn for me,'
Unto the guests he cried;
'My son a warrior's life hath lived,
A warrior's death hath died.
XXIII.
"'His wedding and his funeral feast
Are one, so Fate hath said;
Death bore him from the brides of earth
The brides of Heaven to wed.'
XXIV.
"They drew their knives, they sat them down,
And fed as warriors feed;
The flesh of sheep and beeves they ate,
And quaffed the golden mead.
XXV.
"And Eesa sat between the prayers
Until the fall of day,
When rose the guests and grasped their spears,
And each man went his way.
XXVI.
"But in the morn arose the cry,
For mortal spirit flown;
The father's mighty heart had burst
With woe he might not own.