 | Reverberations |  |
44
BALDER.
Balder, the white Sungod, has departed!
Beautiful as summer dawn was he,
Loved of gods and men, the royal-hearted!
Balder, the white Sungod, has departed,
Has gone home where all the brave ones be.
Beautiful as summer dawn was he,
Loved of gods and men, the royal-hearted!
Balder, the white Sungod, has departed,
Has gone home where all the brave ones be.
For the sagas which suggested the poems of Balder (noticed and imitated in Fraser's Magazine), see Mr Carlyle's “Cromwell” and “Hero-Worship.” The political and social allusions in these poems are still intelligible. The flight of Louis Philippe, the panic of petty Continental sovereigns—“The Frost Kings” of “Thor”—the hopes and the fears of 1848-49, are glanced at in these Scandinavian poems.
For the tears of the imperial Mother,
For a universe that weeps and prays,
Rides Hermoder forth to seek his brother,
Rides for love of that distressful mother,
Through lead-coloured glens and cross-blue ways.
For a universe that weeps and prays,
Rides Hermoder forth to seek his brother,
Rides for love of that distressful mother,
Through lead-coloured glens and cross-blue ways.
With the howling wind and raving torrent,
Nine days rode he, deep and deeper down,
Won the waste death-kingdom, wild and horrent,
Won the lonely bridge that spans the torrent
Of the Moaning-river by Hell-town.
Nine days rode he, deep and deeper down,
Won the waste death-kingdom, wild and horrent,
Won the lonely bridge that spans the torrent
Of the Moaning-river by Hell-town.
45
There an ancient Portress watches ever,
Sleepless torturer of the brain of men,
Merciless and skilled in arts that sever
Soul from soul and mind from mind for ever,
That they never, never meet again.
Sleepless torturer of the brain of men,
Merciless and skilled in arts that sever
Soul from soul and mind from mind for ever,
That they never, never meet again.
Cried Hermoder: “Came my Balder hither?
Balder whom both gods and men hold dear?”
But the Portress, who delights to wither
Hope's white blossoms, answered, “Hither, hither,
Balder came, but Balder is not here.
Balder whom both gods and men hold dear?”
But the Portress, who delights to wither
Hope's white blossoms, answered, “Hither, hither,
Balder came, but Balder is not here.
“Balder is not here; in blind abysses
Downward, northward, in the realm of Death,
Balder dwells, where whitening roars and hisses,
Leaping down the invisible abysses,
Hell's mad stream with pants of furious breath.
Downward, northward, in the realm of Death,
Balder dwells, where whitening roars and hisses,
Leaping down the invisible abysses,
Hell's mad stream with pants of furious breath.
“Ride thou on, a journey wild and dreary,
If in quest of Balder thou wilt ride;
Through the heavy gloom, where, worn and weary,
Faints the traveller in his journey dreary,
Where all ghostly sounds and sights abide.”
If in quest of Balder thou wilt ride;
Through the heavy gloom, where, worn and weary,
Faints the traveller in his journey dreary,
Where all ghostly sounds and sights abide.”
Onward rode the youth in silent wonder,—
Mane of Gold! what steed is like to thee?
On through fire-trenched vales, hills scarred with thunder,
Onward rode the youth in silent wonder,
Brave and good must young Hermoder be.
Mane of Gold! what steed is like to thee?
On through fire-trenched vales, hills scarred with thunder,
Onward rode the youth in silent wonder,
Brave and good must young Hermoder be.
46
Look! o'erleaping Hela's cloudy portal,
In the dim dead world he stands below;
There he sees the beautiful Immortal,
Sees his Balder, under Hela's portal,
Sees him and forgets his pain and woe.
In the dim dead world he stands below;
There he sees the beautiful Immortal,
Sees his Balder, under Hela's portal,
Sees him and forgets his pain and woe.
“O my Balder! have I, have I found thee—
Balder, beautiful as summer-morn?
O my Sungod! hearts of heroes crowned thee
For their King: they lost, but now have found thee;
Gods and men shall not be left forlorn.
Balder, beautiful as summer-morn?
O my Sungod! hearts of heroes crowned thee
For their King: they lost, but now have found thee;
Gods and men shall not be left forlorn.
“Balder! brother! the Divine has vanished,
The eternal splendours all have fled,
Truth and Love and Nobleness are banished,
The Heroic and Divine have vanished,
Nature has no God, and Earth lies dead.
The eternal splendours all have fled,
Truth and Love and Nobleness are banished,
The Heroic and Divine have vanished,
Nature has no God, and Earth lies dead.
“Come thou back, my Balder, king and brother!
Teach the hearts of men to love the Gods.
Come thou back, and comfort our great mother,
Come with truth and bravery, Balder, brother,
Bring the Godlike back to men's abodes.”
Teach the hearts of men to love the Gods.
Come thou back, and comfort our great mother,
Come with truth and bravery, Balder, brother,
Bring the Godlike back to men's abodes.”
But the Nornas let him pray unheeded;
Balder never was to come again.
Vainly, vainly, young Hermoder pleaded;
Balder never was to come. Unheeded,
Young Hermoder wept and prayed in vain.
Balder never was to come again.
Vainly, vainly, young Hermoder pleaded;
Balder never was to come. Unheeded,
Young Hermoder wept and prayed in vain.
47
Oh, the wondrous truth of this old story!
Even now it is as it was then:
Earth hath lost a portion of her glory,
And, like Balder in the ancient story,
Never comes the Beautiful again.
Even now it is as it was then:
Earth hath lost a portion of her glory,
And, like Balder in the ancient story,
Never comes the Beautiful again.
Still the young Hermoder journeys bravely,
Through lead-coloured glens and cross-blue ways;
Still he calls his brother, pleading gravely,
Still to the death-kingdom ventures bravely,
Calmly to the eternal Terror prays.
Through lead-coloured glens and cross-blue ways;
Still he calls his brother, pleading gravely,
Still to the death-kingdom ventures bravely,
Calmly to the eternal Terror prays.
But the Fates relent not; strong Endeavour,
Courage, noble Feeling, are in vain,
For the Beautiful has gone for ever.
Vain are Courage, Genius, strong Endeavour;
Never comes the Beautiful again.
Courage, noble Feeling, are in vain,
For the Beautiful has gone for ever.
Vain are Courage, Genius, strong Endeavour;
Never comes the Beautiful again.
Do you think I counsel weak despairing?
No! like young Hermoder I would ride,
With an humble, yet a gallant daring,
I would leap unquailing, undespairing,
Over the huge precipice's side.
No! like young Hermoder I would ride,
With an humble, yet a gallant daring,
I would leap unquailing, undespairing,
Over the huge precipice's side.
Dead and gone is the old world's Ideal,
The old arts and old religions fled;
But I gladly live amid the Real,
And I seek a worthier Ideal.
Courage, brothers, Heaven is overhead!
The old arts and old religions fled;
But I gladly live amid the Real,
And I seek a worthier Ideal.
Courage, brothers, Heaven is overhead!
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