free-verse26 lines
Olaf Trygvason
by Bj'rnstjerne Martinius Bj'rnson(See Note 10)
Broad the sails o'er the North Sea go;
High on deck in the morning glow
Erling Skjalgsson from Sole
Scans all the sea toward Denmark:
"Cometh never Olaf Trygvason?"
Six and fifty the ships are there,
Sails are let down, toward Denmark stare
Sun-reddened men; - then murmur:
"Where is the great Long Serpent?
Cometh never Olaf Trygvason?"
When the sun in the second dawn
Cloudward rising no mast had drawn,
Grew to a storm their clamor:
"Where is the great Long Serpent?
Cometh never Olaf Trygvason?"
Silent, silent that moment bound,
Stood they all; for from ocean's ground
Sighed round the fleet a muffled:
"Taken the great Long Serpent,
Fallen is Olaf Trygvason."
Ever since, through so many a year,
Norway's ships must beside them hear,
Clearest in nights of moonshine:
"Taken the great Long Serpent,
Fallen is Olaf Trygvason."