For ever up the ever-soaring steep.
But when it almost seemed that she must fall--
So loudly in her ears the pulses beat,
And each step seemed to sink beneath her feet--
She heard the shrilly grating of a key,
And saw, above her, in the unseen wall,
A dazzling square of day break suddenly.
Within the lighted doorway Queen Hild turned
To reach a helping hand, and, as she bent
To clutch the swooning maiden, well-nigh spent,