The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
When past was all the hasty fray,
And Donald Gorm thus chased away;
And not one son of Norway miss'd,
Excepting Odin's sacred priest,
Whom Donald's men had caught asleep,
And hurried off unto the steep—
They deem'd him chief of high command,
Some ancient lord of Scania's band;—
When fled, I say, that headlong force,
Prince Haco call'd his counsellors.
“My gallant friends,” said he, “I must
Rejoice to find in whom I trust.
This night you've shown, with courage true,
What youths of noble blood can do,—
Have saved our sovereign's sacred life,
And crush'd at once a dangerous strife.
Now, trust me, we'll more credit win
By hushing this with little din,
Than, by ostent and fulsome boast,
To break the truce with Albyn's host,
And lose at once the glorious right
Of gaining all by heroes' might.
By secret trust full well I know
The treachery bred with private foe,
That gave us chance thus to debel.—
This thing I know, but dare not tell.
And Donald Gorm thus chased away;
And not one son of Norway miss'd,
Excepting Odin's sacred priest,
Whom Donald's men had caught asleep,
And hurried off unto the steep—
221
Some ancient lord of Scania's band;—
When fled, I say, that headlong force,
Prince Haco call'd his counsellors.
“My gallant friends,” said he, “I must
Rejoice to find in whom I trust.
This night you've shown, with courage true,
What youths of noble blood can do,—
Have saved our sovereign's sacred life,
And crush'd at once a dangerous strife.
Now, trust me, we'll more credit win
By hushing this with little din,
Than, by ostent and fulsome boast,
To break the truce with Albyn's host,
And lose at once the glorious right
Of gaining all by heroes' might.
By secret trust full well I know
The treachery bred with private foe,
That gave us chance thus to debel.—
This thing I know, but dare not tell.
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |