 | Orval, or The Fool of Time |  |
345
DANISH.
Und wenn ein Irrlicht euch die Wege weisen soll,
So müst ihr's so genau nicht nehmen.
So müst ihr's so genau nicht nehmen.
347
THE ELVES.
IMITATIONS.
1
Stretching the tired limbs over the ground,Laying the head o'er the Elfin Mound,
Seem'd I, or dream'd I, to hear and to see
Two milk-white maidens come lightly to me,
So lightly to me?
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
2
Two milk-white maidens: two little elf-girls:One of them kist me under the curls:
One of them whisper'd me warm in the ear
“Up, and dance with us! the moon shines clear
On mountain and mere.”
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
3
“And look! and my sisters shall glance the sweet glances:And rise! and my sisters shall dance the sweet dances:
348
And the Elves of the forest came round me in throngs,
Around me in throngs!
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
4
And a marvellous music in air was heard,And voices neither of breeze nor bird:
And the torrent, that never before stood still,
Stopp'd all at once of his own wild will
On the windy hill.
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
5
The torrent, that never before was at rest,Still'd every beat of his bubbling breast:
And the little white delicate fishes all
Danced. dimpling the diamond waterfall
That stood like a wall.
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
6
The little s'y fishes with silvery tailsPaddled and play'd: and the nightingales
And all the sweet things that live in the air
Sang aloud down the valleys, and everywhere
Through the moonlight fair.
349
Dreaming is o'er.
7
“And wilt thou be of us? and wilt thou be ours?We will play thee strange music, and ply thee strange powers:
Dance thee sweet dances, and sing thee sweet tunes:
And teach thee to read and to write the great runes
That charm stars and moons.”
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
8
“And that dreaming dragon, that sleepeth, roll'dFold over fold, on a heap of red gold,
Shall lift up the eyelid from over the eye,
And sleepily see thee, and, seeing thee, fly
To the desert, and die.”
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
9
Round the elfin ring did the music flow:And they dancèd high, and they dancèd low.
I watch'd them, drooping an eyelid bland,
But grasping the glaive in the wary hand,
Not trusting the band.
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
350
10
And “Hearest thou? fearest thou, fool, to feel pleasure?Delayest thou? weighest thou mirth with a measure?
We will give thee quick riddance: long rest from all strife:
And cut off the cares that encumber thy life
With a sharp, sharp knife.”
I saw them but once: I shall see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
11
If the cock had not crow'd at that moment so shrill,And the red dawn flicker'd far off on the hill,
Which sent them all flitting, by tens and twelves,
I might have been there with them yet, and the Elves
Had my soul to themselves.
But I saw them once only, and saw them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
12
Thou, that ridest by night over elfin ground,Lay not the head on the Elfin Mound.
And let not the eyelid sink over the eye:
For the Elves are fair: and the Elves are sly:
And a man might die.
Once only I saw them: I see them no more.
Dreaming is o'er.
351
LORD OLAF.
PART I.
1
To the merry wedding feast to bid the wedding guest,Light, Lord Olaf, unespied, in the middle night doth ride:
But the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
2
O the merry, merry wives! fair they dance by fours and fives:But the Elf Queen of them all ... he hath heard the Elf Queen call,
And the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
While the white women dance in the wild wood.
3
“Hail, Lord Olaf, to the dance! while the moon is in a trance,And the shade is on the tree, get thee down and dance with me,
For the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.”
352
4
“Nay, nay,” he answer'd, “nay, I may neither list nor stay,For to-morrow, O to-morrow is my merry marriage day.”
But the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
5
“List, Lord Olaf! an'ye will dance with me by yonder hill,Ye shall have a sark of silk, soft as sleep and white as milk.”
And the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow, wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
6
“Hist! a silken sark snow-white: for my mother bleach'd it brightIn the mad moonlight, in the middle of the night.”
O the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow, wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
7
“Nay, I may no more delay; neither list to what ye say;For to-morrow, for to-morrow is my merry marriage day.”
353
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
8
“List, Lord Olaf! an' with me ye will dance by yonder tree,Ye shall have a scarf of gold broider'd bright on scarlet fold.”
And the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
9
“Take the golden scarf away! I may neither look nor stay:For to-morrow, O to-morrow, is my merry marriage day.”
But the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
10
“Hist, Lord Olaf! scarlet fold, broider'd gay with burning gold:For I wrought it in the cold of the cavern'd hills of old.”
O the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
354
11
“Keep, O keep the silken sark, and the golden scarf! for hark,From the far off forest dells comes a sound of bridal bells!”
But the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
12
“An' ye will not dance with me, list, Lord Olaf, ye shall beFairest bridegroom ever borne to his grave on bridal morn.”
Ho! the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
13
Light she leapt to his red horse: “Now ride on across the gorse!“Ride!” she cried, “Not every bride clasps a dead man to her side!”
And the dance flies fast through the hollow, hollow wood,
And the white women dance in the wild wood.
355
PART II.
1
Pale, Lord Olaf stood before his own good castle door,And his mother from the gate call'd “Lord Olaf, why so late?”
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
2
“And, Lord Olaf, do ye ail? Why, son Olaf, why so pale?For thy cheek is white as death, and there's blood upon the heath.”
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
3
“Mother, mother, much I ail: and my cheek may well be pale.Evil, evil was the chance! I have seen the Elf Queen dance.
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, whose kissing is so cold!”
4
“Hold! what say ye, O my son? and what is it ye have done?And what shall I tell thy bride?” “Tell her, tell her that I ride,”
(O Elf Queen, O Elf Queen, thy kissing is so cold!)
356
5
“That I ride around, around in the forest, with my hound:In the forest through the gorse, to try my red roan horse.”
But the Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
6
Blithely blows the castle horn for the merry marriage morn:And the silver music swells from the swinging bridal bells.
But the Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
7
Come the minstrels: comes the priest: with the merry wedding guest:And the bride with the bride maiden: and the banquet board is laden.
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
8
And the hydromel is pour'd, and the red wine, round the board.“Mother, mother, where is he that should be here with me?”
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
357
9
“O he rides around, around in the forest with his hound;In the forest, through the gorse with his greyhound and his horse.”
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
10
“Nay, his horse is in the stall, and his greyhound in the hall:And O, dear as these may be, more Lord Olaf loveth me!”
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
11
“Long his horse may stand in stall, and his greyhound bide in hall:Weary men do slumber deep: and he lyeth in a sleep.”
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
12
Then the scarlet cloth she raised, and upon his face they gazed:And fear fell upon them all, the feasters in that hall.
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
13
“O maiden, maiden, weep! He that sleepeth such a sleep358
The Elf Queen, the Elf Queen, her kissing is so cold!
14
On the mournful morrow morn three corpses forth were borne:From the castle corpses three: and two were fair to see.
O Elf Queen, O Elf Queen, thy kissing is so cold!
| Orval, or The Fool of Time | |