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The Collected Works of William Morris

With Introductions by his Daughter May Morris
Morris, William (1834-1896)

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VOLUME I THE DEFENCE OF GUENEVERE AND OTHER POEMS
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VOLUME II THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JASON
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VOLUME III, IV, V, VI THE EARTHLY PARADISE
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VOLUME VII THE STORY OF GRETTIR THE STRONG. THE STORY OF THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS
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VOLUME IX LOVE IS ENOUGH. POEMS BY THE WAY
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VOLUME X THREE NORTHERN LOVE STORIES. THE TALE OF BEOWULF
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VOLUME XII THE STORY OF SIGURD THE VOLSUNG AND THE FALL OF THE NIBLUNGS
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VOLUME XIV THE HOUSE OF THE WOLFINGS. THE STORY OF THE GLITTERING PLAIN
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A TALE OF THE HOUSE OF THE WOLFINGS AND ALL THE KINDREDS OF THE MARK WRITTEN IN PROSE AND IN VERSE BY WILLIAM MORRIS
  
[WHILES IN THE EARLY WINTER EVE]
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CHAPTER II. THE FLITTING OF THE WAR-ARROW.
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CHAPTER III. THIODOLF TALKETH WITH THE WOOD-SUN.
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CHAPTER IV. THE HOUSE FARETH TO THE WAR.
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CHAPTER V. CONCERNING THE HALL-SUN.
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CHAPTER VI. THEY TALK ON THE WAY TO THE FOLK-THING.
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CHAPTER VIII. THE FOLK-MOTE OF THE MARKMEN.
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CHAPTER IX. THE ANCIENT MAN OF THE DAYLINGS.
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CHAPTER XI. THE HALL-SUN SPEAKETH.
  
[“Hear ye a matter, maidens, and ye Wolfing women all]
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CHAPTER XIII. THE HALL-SUN SAITH ANOTHER WORD.
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CHAPTER XV. THEY HEAR TELL OF THE BATTLE ON THE RIDGE.
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CHAPTER XVI. HOW THE DWARF-WROUGHT HAUBERK WAS BROUGHT AWAY FROM THE HALL OF THE DAYLINGS.
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CHAPTER XVII. THE WOOD-SUN SPEAKETH WITH THIODOLF.
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CHAPTER XIX. THOSE MESSENGERS COME TO THIODOLF.
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CHAPTER XX. OTTER AND HIS FOLK COME INTO MID-MARK.
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CHAPTER XXII. OTTER FALLS ON AGAINST HIS WILL.
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CHAPTER XXVI. THIODOLF TALKETH WITH THE WOOD-SUN.
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CHAPTER XXVII. THEY WEND TO THE MORNING BATTLE.
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CHAPTER XXVIII. OF THE STORM OF DAWNING.
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CHAPTER XXIX. OF THIODOLF'S STORM.
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CHAPTER XXX. THIODOLF IS BORNE OUT OF THE HALL AND OTTER IS LAID BESIDE HIM.
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CHAPTER XXXI. OLD ASMUND SPEAKETH OVER THE WAR-DUKES: THE DEAD ARE LAID IN MOUND.
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THE STORY OF THE GLITTERING PLAIN OR THE LAND OF LIVING MEN
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VOLUME XV THE ROOTS OF THE MOUNTAINS
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VOLUME XVI NEWS FROM NOWHERE. A DREAM OF JOHN BALL. A KING'S LESSON
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VOLUME XVII THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD. CHILD CHRISTOPHER. OLD FRENCH ROMANCES
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VOLUME XXI THE SUNDERING FLOOD. UNFINISHED ROMANCES
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VOLUME XXIV SCENES FROM THE FALL OF TROY AND OTHER POEMS AND FRAGMENTS

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125

[“O sons of Tyr, ye have vanquished, and sore hath been your pain]

[Thiodolf.]
“O sons of Tyr, ye have vanquished, and sore hath been your pain;
But he that smiteth in battle must ever smite again;
And thus with you it fareth, and the day abideth yet
When ye shall hold the Aliens as the fishes in the net.
On the Ridge ye slew a many; but there came a many more
From their strongholds by the water to their new-built garth of war,
And all these have been led by dastards o'er the way our feet must tread
Through the eastern heaths and the beechwood to the door of the Bearing stead,
Now e'en yesterday I deemed it, but I durst not haste away
Ere the word was borne to Otter and 'tis he bids haste to-day;
So now by day and by night-tide it behoveth us to wend
And wind the reel of battle and weave its web to end.
Had ye deemed my eyes foreseeing, I would tell you of my sight,
How I see the folk delivered and the Aliens turned to flight,
While my own feet wend them onwards to the ancient Fathers' Home.
But belike these are but the visions that to many a man shall come
When he goeth adown to the battle, and before him riseth high
The walls of valiant foemen to hide all things anigh.
But indeed I know full surely that no work that we may win
To-morrow or the next day shall quench the Markmen's kin.
On many a day hereafter shall their warriors carry shield;
On many a day their maidens shall drive the kine afield,
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On many a day their reapers bear sickle in the wheat
When the golden wind-wrought ripple stirs round the feast-hall's feet.
Lo, now is the day's work easy—to live and overcome,
Or to die and yet to conquer on the threshold of the Home.”

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