And the undiscovered deep; I could not eat nor sleep For thinking of those seas. "To the northward stretched the desert, How far I fain would know; So at last I sallied forth, And three days sailed due north, "To the west of me was the ocean, To the right the desolate shore, But I did not slacken sail For the walrus or the whale, Till after three days more. "The days grew longer and longer, Till they became as one, And southward through the haze I saw the sullen blaze Of the red midnight sun. "And then uprose before me, Upon the water's edge, The huge and haggard shape Of that unknown North Cape, "The sea was rough and stormy, 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, And raised his eyes from his book, With a strange and puzzled look, And an incredulous smile. But Othere, the old sea-captain, 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 And Othere the old sea-captain His tawny, quivering beard. And to the King of the Saxons, |