“But now the sun had pass’d the height of Heaven,
And soon had all that day been spent in wail;
But then the Father of the ages said:—
‘Bring now the gather’d wood to Balder’s ship;
Heap on the deck the logs, and build the pyre.'...
(And) when the Gods and Heroes heard, they brought
The wood to Balder’s ship, and built a pile,
Full the deck’s breadth, and lofty; then the corpse
Of Balder on the highest top they laid.
Then they put fire to the wood....
And wreathed in smoke the ship stood out to sea.
Soon with a roaring rose the mighty fire,
And the pile crackled; and between the logs
Sharp quivering tongues of flame shot out, and leapt.
Curling and darting, higher, until they lick’d
The summit of the pile, the dead, the mast,
And ate the shrivelling sails; but still the ship
Drove on, ablaze above her hull with fire.
And the Gods stood upon the beach, and gazed.
And while they gazed, the sun went lurid down
Into the smoke-wrapt sea, and night came on.
But through the dark they watch’d the burning ship
Still carried o’er the distant waters on,
Farther and farther, like an eye of fire.
And long, in the far dark, blazed Balder’s pile;
But fainter, as the stars rose high, it flared,
And as, in a decaying winter-fire,
A charr’d log, falling, makes a shower of sparks—
So with a shower of sparks the pile fell in,
Reddening the sea around; and all was dark.
“But the Gods went by starlight up the shore
Silent, and waited for the sacred morn.
(And lo, the voice of Balder:)
‘Mourn not for me! Mourn (rather) for the Gods;
Mourn for the men on earth, the Gods in Heaven,
Who live, and with their eyes shall see that day!
The day will come, when fall shall Asgard’s towers,
And Odin, and his sons, the seed of Heaven:
But what were I, to save them in that Hour?
For I am long since weary of your storm
Of carnage, and find (within) your life
Something too much of war and broils, which make
Life one perpetual fight, a bath of blood.
Mine eyes are dizzy with the arrowy hail;
Mine ears are stunn’d with blows, and sick for calm.
Inactive therefore let me lie, in gloom,
Unarm’d, inglorious; I attend the course
Of ages, and my late return to light.
6
