'
"Remember, Queen, the stormy day,
When cast away
Thou wast so nigh:--
Thou wast the needy bird that day,
And unto me didst cry.
"Death-raven now comes towering,
Comes scowering,
O'er hill and stream;
But when wilt thou, Dame Sigrid fair,
Thy plighted word redeem."
A hollow moan from Sigrid's bosom came,
While he survey'd her with his eye of flame:
"Fly," said she; "demon monster, get thee hence!
My humble pray'r shall be my son's defence."
She cross'd herself, and then the fiend flew out;
But first, contemptuously he danc'd about,
And sang, "No pray'r shall save him from my rage;
In Christian blood my thirst I will assuage."
Young Harrald seiz'd his scarlet cap, and cried,
"I'll probe the grief my mother fain would hide;"
Then, rushing into her apartment fair,
"O mother," said he, "wherefore sitt'st thou there,
Far from thy family at dead of night,
With lips so mute, and cheeks so ghastly white?
Tell me what lies so heavy at thy heart;
Grief, when confided, loses half its smart.
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