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Song continued.

‘Ha! Mightier Power!’ the startled god exclaimed,
‘Then it was not brave Aymund that you named?
He is my son! Trained up to shed men's blood,
Since he was boy he hath in battle stood!’
‘Ay—so the Spirit told me,’ thus again
Took up the word the Chooser of the Slain,
‘But now his part, she said, that warrior brave
Shall learn, is not to slay mankind, but save!
The sense of Beauty, and the power of Love,
Sublimed in him, and hallowed from above,
Shall touch the hero's heart with feeling strange,
Shall touch, shall soften, and at last shall change!
That matchless valour which 'gainst others burned,
Shall 'gainst himself be resolutely turned,
In his own bosom to destroy a foe
Stouter than e'er he quelled by weapon-blow!
And that once vanquished, his, thenceforth, shall be
A higher and a nobler destiny!
Blest shall he be in hall, and blest in bower,
Blest in his love, his offspring, and his power!
A land, made happy by his peaceful sway,
To him through life shall willing homage pay;
And to his soul shall, after death, be given
The endless rapture of the Christian Heaven!’
The Damsel ceased. On Woden fell a cloud;
A deepening shadow dimmed each visage proud;
Through the vast hall a flash of lightning broke;
And thunder, following, startled me, and woke.”