But not for this their revels
The jovial monks forebore,

For they cried, "Fill high the goblet!
We must drink to one Saint more!"

GASPAR BECERRA.

By his evening fire the artist

Pondered o'er his secret shame;

Baffled, weary, and disheartened,

Still he mused, and dreamed of fame.

'Twas an image of the Virgin

That had tasked his utmost skill;

But alas! his fair ideal

Vanished and escaped him still.

From a distant Eastern island

Had the precious wood been brought;

Day and night the anxious master
At his toil untiring wrought;

Till, discouraged and desponding,
Sat he now in shadows deep,

And the day's humiliation

Found oblivion in sleep.

Then a voice cried, "Rise, O master!
From the burning brand of oak
Shape the thought that stirs within thee!"
And the startled artist woke,-

Woke, and from the smoking embers

Seized and quenched the glowing wood;

And therefrom he carved an image,

And he saw that it was good.

O thou sculptor, painter, poet!
Take this lesson to thy heart:

That is best which lieth nearest ;
Shape from that thy work of art.

PEGASUS IN POUND.

ONCE into a quiet village

Without haste and without heed,

In the golden prime of morning,
Strayed the poet's wingèd steed.

It was Autumn, and incessant

Piped the quails from shocks and sheaves; And, like living coals, the apples

Burned among the withering leaves.
Loud the clamorous bell was ringing
From its belfry gaunt and grim;
"Twas the daily call to labour,

Not a triumph meant for him.
Not the less he saw the landscape,
In its gleaming vapour veil'd;
Not the less he breathed the odours
That the dying leaves exhaled.
Thus, upon the village common,

By the school-boys he was found;
And the wise men, in their wisdom,
Put him straightway into pound.
Then the sombre village crier,

Ringing loud his brazen bell,
Wandered down the street proclaiming
There was an estray to sell.
And the curious country people,

Rich and poor, and young and old,
Came in haste to see this wondrous

Winged steed, with mane of gold. Thus the day passed, and the evening Fell, with vapours cold and dim; But it brought no food nor shelter,

Brought no straw nor stall, for him.
Patiently, and still expectant,

Looked he through the wooden bars,
Saw the moon rise o'er the landscape,
Saw the tranquil, patient stars;
Till at length the bell at midnight
Sounded from its dark abode,

And, from out a neighbouring farmyard,
Loud the cock Alectryon crowed
Then, with nostrils wide distended
Breaking from his iron chain,
And unfolding far his pinions,

To those stars he soared again.
On the morrow, when the village
Woke to all its toil and care,
Lo! the strange steed had departed,

And they knew not when nor where.

But they found, upon the greensward Where his struggling hoofs had trod, Pure and bright, a fountain flowing

From the hoof-marks in the sod. From that hour, the fount unfailing

Gladdens the whole region round, Strengthening all who drink its waters, While it soothes them with its sound.

TEGNERS DRAPA.

I HEARD a voice, that cried,
"Balder the Beautiful
Is dead, is dead!"

And through the misty air
Passed like the mournful cry
Of sunward sailing cranes.

I saw the pallid corpse
Of the dead sun

Borne through the Northeru sky,
Blasts from Niffelheim

Lifted the sheeted mists

Around him as he passed.

And the voice for ever cried,

"Balder the Beautiful
Is dead, is dead!"

And died away

Through the dreary night,

In accents of despair.

Balder the Beautiful,

God of the summer sun,
Fairest of all the Gods!

Light from his forehead beamed,
Runes were upon his tongue,
As on the warrior's sword.

All things in earth and air
Bound were by magic spell
Never to do him harm;
Even the plants and stones;
All save the mistletoe,
The sacred mistletoe!

Hæder, the blind old God,

Whose feet are shod with silence,

Pierced through that gentle breast With his sharp spear, by fraud Made of the mistletoe,

The accursed mistletoe !

They laid him in his ship,
With horse and harness,
As on a funeral pyre.

Odin placed

A ring upon his finger

And whispered in his ear.

They launched the burning ship! It floated far away

Over the misty sea,

Till like the sun it seemed,
Sinking beneath the waves.
Balder returned no more!

So perish the old Gods!
But out of the sea of Time
Rises a new land of song,
Fairer than the old.

Over its meadows green

Walk the young bards and sing.

Build it again,

O ye bards,

Fairer than before!

Ye fathers of the new race,
Feed upon morning dew,
Sing the new Song of Love!

The law of force is dead!
The law of love prevails!
Thor, the thunderer,

Shall rule the earth no more,
No more, with threats,
Challenge the meek Christ.

Sing no more,

O ye bards of the North,
Of Vikings and of Jarls!
Of the days of Eld

Preserve the freedom only,
Not the deeds of blood!