"The Descent of Odin. An Ode"

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	T	E	T/E		"The Descent of Odin. An Ode"
					(From the Norse-Tongue,) in Bartholinus,
					de causis contemnendae mortis; Hafniae,
					1689, Quarto.
					Upreis Odinn allda gautr, &c.
		E		1	Uprose the King of Men with speed,
		E		2	And saddled straight his coal-black steed;
		E		3	Down the yawning steep he rode,
		E		4	That leads to Hela's drear abode.
	T	E	T/E	5	Him the dog of darkness spied,
				6	His shaggy throat he opened wide,
		E		7	While from his jaws, with carnage filled,
		E		8	Foam and human gore distilled:
		E		9	Hoarse he bays with hideous din,
				10	Eyes that glow and fangs that grin;
	T			11	And long pursues with fruitless yell
				12	The father of the powerful spell.
				13	Onward still his way he takes,
	T	E	T/E	14	(The groaning earth beneath him shakes,)
				15	Till full before his fearless eyes
		E		16	The portals nine of hell arise.
		E		17	Right against the eastern gate,
		E		18	By the moss-grown pile he sate,
		E		19	Where long of yore to sleep was laid
		E		20	The dust of the prophetic maid.
		E		21	Facing to the northern clime,
		E		22	Thrice he traced the runic rhyme;
	T	E	T/E	23	Thrice pronounced, in accents dread,
		E		24	The thrilling verse that wakes the dead;
		E		25	Till from out the hollow ground
		E		26	Slowly breathed a sullen sound.
	T	E	T/E	27	Pr[ophetess]. What call unknown, what charms, presume
		E		28	To break the quiet of the tomb?
	T	E	T/E	29	Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite,
		E		30	And drags me from the realms of night?
		E		31	Long on these mouldering bones have beat
		E		32	The winter's snow, the summer's heat,
		E		33	The drenching dews, and driving rain!
		E		34	Let me, let me sleep again.
	T			35	Who is he, with voice unblest,
				36	That calls me from the bed of rest?
		E		37	O[din]. A Traveller, to thee unknown,
		E		38	Is he that calls, a Warrior's son.
				39	Thou the deeds of light shalt know;
		E		40	Tell me what is done below,
	T	E	T/E	41	For whom yon glittering board is spread,
	T	E	T/E	42	Dressed for whom yon golden bed.
		E		43	Pr. Mantling in the goblet see
		E		44	The pure beverage of the bee,
		E		45	O'er it hangs the shield of gold;
		E		46	'Tis the drink of Balder bold:
	T			47	Balder's head to death is given.
	T	E	T/E	48	Pain can reach the sons of Heaven!
				49	Unwilling I my lips unclose:
				50	Leave me, leave me to repose.
	T	E	T/E	51	O. Once again my call obey.
	T	E	T/E	52	Prophetess, arise and say,
				53	What dangers Odin's child await,
				54	Who the author of his fate.
		E		55	Pr. In Hoder's hand the hero's doom:
				56	His brother sends him to the tomb.
				57	Now my weary lips I close:
				58	Leave me, leave me to repose.
	T			59	O. Prophetess, my spell obey,
	T			60	Once again arise and say,
	T			61	Who the avenger of his guilt,
	T			62	By whom shall Hoder's blood be spilt.
		E		63	Pr. In the caverns of the west,
	T	E	T/E	64	By Odin's fierce embrace compressed,
	T	E	T/E	65	A wondrous boy shall Rinda bear,
		E		66	Who ne'er shall comb his raven-hair,
		E		67	Nor wash his visage in the stream,
		E		68	Nor see the sun's departing beam:
	T	E	T/E	69	Till he on Hoder's corse shall smile
		E		70	Flaming on the funeral pile.
				71	Now my weary lips I close:
				72	Leave me, leave me to repose.
				73	O. Yet a while my call obey.
	T			74	Prophetess, awake and say,
		E		75	What virgins these, in speechless woe,
	T	E	T/E	76	That bend to earth their solemn brow,
	T	E	T/E	77	That their flaxen tresses tear,
		E		78	And snowy veils, that float in air.
	T			79	Tell me whence their sorrows rose:
				80	Then I leave thee to repose.
				81	Pr. Ha! no Traveller art thou,
		E		82	King of Men, I know thee now,
	T	E	T/E	83	Mightiest of a mighty line—
				84	O. No boding maid of skill divine
				85	Art thou, nor prophetess of good;
		E		86	But mother of the giant-brood!
	T			87	Pr. Hie thee hence and boast at home,
				88	That never shall enquirer come
		E		89	To break my iron-sleep again,
	T	E	T/E	90	Till Lok has burst his tenfold chain;
		E		91	Never, till substantial Night
	T	E	T/E	92	Has reassumed her ancient right;
		E		93	Till wrapped in flames, in ruin hurled,
	T	E	T/E	94	Sinks the fabric of the world.

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• [BrJ_1903] The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. Reprinted edition. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1903 [1st edition 1891].
• [CrJ_1948] Gray: Poetry and Prose. With essays by Johnson, Goldsmith and others. With an Introduction and Notes by J. Crofts. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1948 [1st ed. 1926].
• [EpW_1959] Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited by W. C. Eppstein. London and Glasgow: Blackie & Son Ltd., 1959.
• [GoE_1884] The Works of Thomas Gray: In Prose and Verse. Ed. by Edmund Gosse, in four vols. London: MacMillan and Co., 1884, vol. i.
• [HeJ_1981] Thomas Gray: Selected Poems. Ed. by John Heath-Stubbs. Manchester: Carcanet New Press Ltd., 1981.
• [LoR_1969] The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by Roger Lonsdale. Longman Annotated English Poets Series. London and Harlow: Longmans, 1969.
• [P/W_1950] The Poems of Gray and Collins. Edited by Austin Lane Poole. Revised by Leonard Whibley. Third edition. Oxford editions of standard authors series. London: Oxford UP, 1937, reprinted 1950 [1st ed. 1919].
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• [ReJ_1973] The Complete English Poems of Thomas Gray. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by James Reeves. The Poetry Bookshelf series. London: Heinemann; New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973.
• [S/H_1966] The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966.
• [ToD_1922] Gray's English Poems, Original and Translated from the Norse and Welsh. Edited by Duncan C. Tovey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1922 [1st ed. 1898].