Alfred An Heroic Poem, in Twenty-Four Books. By Joseph Cottle: 4th ed. |
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 | Alfred |  |
Oddune replied, ‘These were my monarch's words,
‘If they disdain thee, tell them, by the hand
‘That wields the thunder, by the power that stills
‘Old ocean when he raveth, I will meet
‘Ivar and Hubba on yon plain, and prove
‘What Saxons can perform, when in their might
‘They strive for liberty.’ Ivar exclaim'd;
‘While rage inflames his heart! ‘Who stills the sea?
‘Who wields the thunder? Odin, god supreme,
‘The lord of battle! Is he not our friend?
‘Hath he not followed us from land to land,
‘From sea to sea, rousing to strifes and wars;
‘And granting, e'en in death, to every Dane
‘The eye that speaks of ecstasy, the heart
‘That leaps with rapture?’—
‘If they disdain thee, tell them, by the hand
‘That wields the thunder, by the power that stills
‘Old ocean when he raveth, I will meet
‘Ivar and Hubba on yon plain, and prove
‘What Saxons can perform, when in their might
‘They strive for liberty.’ Ivar exclaim'd;
‘While rage inflames his heart! ‘Who stills the sea?
‘Who wields the thunder? Odin, god supreme,
‘The lord of battle! Is he not our friend?
‘Hath he not followed us from land to land,
‘From sea to sea, rousing to strifes and wars;
‘And granting, e'en in death, to every Dane
‘The eye that speaks of ecstasy, the heart
‘That leaps with rapture?’—
| Alfred | |