"And then uprose before me,

Upon the water's edge,

The huge and haggard shape
Of that unknown North Cape,
Whose form is like a wedge.

"The sea was rough and stormy, The tempest howled and wailed, And the sea-fog, like a ghost, Haunted that dreary coast,

But onward still I sailed.

"Four days I steered to eastward, Four days without a night:

Round in a fiery ring

Went the great sun, O King,

With red and lurid light."

Here Alfred, King of the Saxons, Ceased writing for a while;

And raised his eyes from his book, With a strange and puzzled look, And an incredulous smile.

But Othere, the old sea-captain,
He neither paused nor stirred,

Till the King listened, and then

Once more took

up his pen,

And wrote down every word.

"And now the land," said Othere,

"Bent southward suddenly,

And I followed the curving shore

And ever southward bore

Into a nameless sea.

"And there we hunted the walrus,

The narwhale, and the seal;

Ha! 't was a noble game!

And like the lightning's flame

Flew our harpoons of steel.

"There were six of us all together,

Norsemen of Helgoland;

In two days and no more

We killed of them threescore,

And dragged them to the strand!”

Here Alfred the Truth-Teller

Suddenly closed his book,

And lifted his blue eyes,

With doubt and strange surmise
Depicted in their look.

And Othere the old sea-captain
Stared at him wild and weird,
Then smiled, till his shining teeth
Gleamed white from underneath
His tawny, quivering beard.

And to the King of the Saxons,
In witness of the truth,

Raising his noble head,

He stretched his brown hand, and said, "Behold this walrus-tooth!"

17

DAYBREAK.

A WIND came up out of the sea,
And said, "O mists, make room for me."

It hailed the ships, and cried, “Sail on, Ye mariners, the night is gone.”

And hurried landward far away,
Crying, "Awake! it is the day."

It said unto the forest, "Shout!
Hang all your leafy banners out!"