Poems (Scudder)/Northern Sunset
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NORTHERN SUNSET
Steel with a thousand gilded ripples lined
The broad sea glitters like a Viking's shield
And o'er its rim the red Berserker wrath
Of the fierce sun is vividly revealed.
The broad sea glitters like a Viking's shield
And o'er its rim the red Berserker wrath
Of the fierce sun is vividly revealed.
See how the fiery splendor upward streams
Toward the zenith, slowly changing them
To trembling filaments of purest gold
Sweet Freya's tresses loved of gods and men.
Toward the zenith, slowly changing them
To trembling filaments of purest gold
Sweet Freya's tresses loved of gods and men.
But are they cloud or mountain, those soft peaks
With tints of pearl and amber sheening fair?
Too delicate they seem for shapes of earth,
And yet too tender for the forms of air.
With tints of pearl and amber sheening fair?
Too delicate they seem for shapes of earth,
And yet too tender for the forms of air.
No swift Valkyrie winds are there to swoop
And cry above the small grey sails that creep
Into the harbor whose vast curve appears
A giant's arm outflung in tranquil sleep.
And cry above the small grey sails that creep
Into the harbor whose vast curve appears
A giant's arm outflung in tranquil sleep.
A single gull floats wide-winged in the light,
But not a wave uplifts its shining crest,
For sky and air and ocean hold the peace
The wondrous peace of mighty strength at rest.
But not a wave uplifts its shining crest,
For sky and air and ocean hold the peace
The wondrous peace of mighty strength at rest.