THE CAVE OF SILVER. SEEK me the cave of silver! Said Ilda to Brok the Bold: Bring me no skins of foxes; Boast not your fifty vessels That fish in the Northern Sea; And naught but the cave of silver Reena, the witch, hath told me Down deep in a valley-side; So gather your lance and rifle, And seek ye the cave of silver go, THE CAVE OF SILVER. I said Brok, right proudly; To seek for the cave of silver So long as my life shall hold; But when the keen Lapp arrows Are fleshed in the heart that loves you, I'll leave my curse on the woman Who slaughtered Brok the Bold! But Ilda laughed as she shifted Than the back of the thorny skate! The Summer passed, and the Winter And Ilda waited and waited, And gazed at the wild Lapp mountains I want not a cave of silver! I care for no cave of silver! A DIRGE. O ye strong Norwegian gallants, But the brave Norwegian gallants Till her heart and her face grew old; With the round hoop of gold! FITZ-JAMES O'BRIEN. A DIRGE. CALL for the robin-redbreast and the wren, The friendless bodies of unburied men. Call unto his funeral dole The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole, To rear him hillocks that shall keep him warm, And (when gay tombs are robbed) sustain no harm; But keep the wolf far thence, that's foe to men, For with his nails he'll dig them up again. JOHN WEBSTER. REST AND LABOR. "Two hands upon the breast, And labor's done; Two pale feet crossed in rest, The race is won; Two eyes with coin weights shut, And all tears cease; Two lips where grief is mute, Anger at peace!" So pray we oftentimes, mourning our lot; "Two hands to work addrest, Aye for His praise; Two feet that never rest, Walking His ways; Two eyes that look above, Through all their tears; Two lips still breathing love, Not wrath, nor fears!" So pray we afterwards, low on our knees; Pardon those erring prayers! Father, hear these! DINAH MARIA MULOCH. |