Page:Gummere (1909) The Oldest English Epic.djvu/113

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
BEOWULF
97

to the better breed! So, borne aloft,
thy fame must fly, O friend my Beowulf,
1705far and wide o’er folksteads many. Firmly thou shalt all maintain,[1]
mighty strength with mood of wisdom. Love of mine will I assure thee,
as, awhile ago, I promised; thou shalt prove a stay in future,
in far-off years, to folk of thine,
to the heroes a help. Was not Heremod[2] thus
1710to offspring of Ecgwela, Honor-Scyldings,
nor grew for their grace, but for grisly slaughter,
for doom of death to the Danishmen.
He slew, wrath-swollen, his shoulder-comrades,
companions at board! So he passed alone,
1715chieftain haughty, from human cheer.
Though him the Maker with might endowed,
delights of power, and uplifted high
above all men, yet blood-fierce his mind,
his breast-hoard, grew; no bracelets gave he
1720to Danes as was due; he endured all joyless
strain of struggle and stress of woe,
long feud with his folk. Here find thy lesson!
Of virtue advise thee! This verse[3] I have said for thee,
wise from lapsed winters. Wondrous seems

1725how to sons of men Almighty God
  1. The three verses are hypermetric in the original.
  2. The antitype again: see above, v. 901. Heremod is of Hrothgar’s own kingdom; of Ecgwela, a Danish ancestor also, nothing is known.
  3. Poetry was a wide word of old, and gidi.e. “verse” or “poem”—was also used to indicate the oral communication of wisdom (once always in rimed saws, proverbs, and the like) and philosophy.