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-Since o'er the fields at morning tide
The greater Light began to glide,⚫
God's candle-he of grace ador'd,
Eternal and Almighty Lord,-
Till latest in the fading west
That creature of the High had rest.

Full many a soldier strewed the field;

The North-man + stretched on useless shield,
And noble Scottish chief from far,

Red from the worrying shocks of war.

The Wessex army all the day
(A chosen herd) the rear assay,
Their loathed foes they closely press,
The lingering rearward sore distress;
The fugitives unhappy feel

The sharpness of their piercing steel.
No rest th' unwearied Mercians knew;
Their hardy hands were firm and true.
Health then to Anlaf's host was none,-
By gales of favouring wind o'erblown,
Who, o'er the bosom of the sea,
Had sought this land, for sovereignty.
Five sons of kings there prostrate lay, §
By swords untimely swept away;

And seven, the earls of Anlaf's train.
Unnumbered pirates from the main, ||

• Saxon, the more (i. e. greater) twinkler."

+ North-men, a general term for Danes, called also Dacians, Norwe gians or Norse, Icelanders, and others; also, for the inhabitants of Orkney and Shetland, who were eminent for piracy on a large scale, and styled themselves sea-kings, or earls, and their ships sea-dragons. They here appear as allies to Scotland, although generally opposed, as in the modern ballad of Hardyknute, which is yet true to history.

Literally, they "drilled" holes, or wounds, with their swords.

This may also mean that they were kings at the time.

The Saxon word is "unrim," said to be from the Latin innumerus.

The next word signifies, literally, "harassers."

And Scottish men, with wild affright,
Scarce saved their lives by hasty flight.

The North-man Chief, at utmost need,
Upraised his voice for instant speed:
His remnant poor in sad retreat
Tumultuous crowd the royal fleet,
Then o'er the sea, at falling-tide,
To distant lands in safety hied.

And Constantine, of prudent thought, †
His Northern realm most swiftly sought.
There Hilderic, of hoary years,
His loss bewailed with bitter tears.
It little served his cause to groan,

Yet much his mates he did bemoan.

Short store of friends at home remain, —
They fell before, on hostile plain.
His much-loved son is far away,-
In blood, on wailful field, he lay.

'Vailed not his barons to deplore,
Young Atguth, old in wisdom's lore;
By bill-men stretched on foreign earth, §—
Nought served his valour, nought his worth.

* "Steven,"-a word which continued in use till the fifteenth century.

+ King of Scotland.-The Saxon has the original Latin, "Constantinus," a name or title borrowed, doubtless, from the Lower Empire. It would seem, from other copies, as if Hilde-rinc was only an epithet for the same person; but this, and many other points, must be left for higher judgments.

Saxon," Short folk filled his folk-stede;" so before, "camp-stede," (i. e. place). The termination is still retained in "farm-stead," "homestead," &c.

The bills used in war were fixed at the end of long staves, similar to pike-handles. In process of time, with perhaps some little alteration of form, they were called partizans and halberts.

Nor more shall haughty Anlaf* boast,
With remnant of his scattered host,
That they, forsooth, are best in fight,

And theirs, in camp, more conquering might.

When next the Motest in council met,
Then sighs were heard, and cheeks were wet;
For many a heavy ransom told,

Must free their friends from captive hold:
And they the weighty charge must brook,
Which first, with oaths, they undertook.

The Northern ships, with tackled gear ↑
And scanty crews, in grief and fear,
Have launched them on the dreary deep,
And o'er the dingy waters creep,-
They rest them first on Dublin§ strand,
Then seek with shame their native land.

Then, too, the brothers twain depart,—
King Athelstan's of noble heart,
And Atheling's united band,
With joy return to Wessex land. ||

The airy, screaming birds of war,

The Bittern's hollow note from far,

* The Danish king.- Dr. Percy thinks this should be spelt Aulaf, Aulaf being evidently the genuine northern name Olaff or Olave, Lat. Olaus.

+ Mote, or ge-mote, i. e. the mote, a term for a provincial council or incorporation. It is still retained in "ward-mote." Wittena-ge-mote, was "the assembly of wise men," and is said to have been the origin of Parliaments, styled, from the French, " parler," to speak.

Literal,-i.e. With their rigging repaired.

Saxon,--Dyfflen, and Difelin.

| This, which included seven counties in the West, was their ancient patrimonial kingdom; and it continued, in some measure, a separate jurisdiction, long after the union of the Heptarchy.

They leave behind; — the paddock's croak,'
The Raven swarth, from woodland oak,
With hooked beak and horny bill, †—
House-wooding Heron, whose food is still
White fishes from the mountain-flood,-
The ravenous Goshawk, gorged with blood,—
The wild Deer grey, from lonely glen, §—
The Wolf, the savage foe of men.

Was ne'er more wail or sorrow rife
In England's isle, from deadly strife,
(Since first her ancient race arose),
From blade's keen edge, or battle close,
(So they who ancient books explore—
The elders, wise in clerkly lore), ||
Since first up-came from Eastern land,
The Anglian and the Saxon band;
When, o'er the broad opposing brine, ¶
They sought the crown of Britain's line,

* Toad.

+ Literally, "nib."

Literal,-i. e. that has its nests in the woods. This word "earn," the other copies render eagle, and flesh instead of fish; with other important variations from the present copy, to which the learned are referred.

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Deor. In the Saxon Chronicle, græege-deor" is translated as an epithet to the wolf, " parti-coloured." On the authority of Mr. Ellis, it is a separate animal; but it does not follow from the preceding, that it was a beast of the stag kind. Deer was, it seems, formerly a general term for a great variety of wild animals, both large and small; as plainly appears from a passage in the old Anglo-Saxon romance of " Bevis of Hampton "-(from whence it is borrowed by Shakspeare, in Lear, Act III. Sc. IV.)

"Mice and rats, and such small deer,

Was his meat that seven year."

Literal, i. e. So it is related by the learned elders, who search ancient books.

¶ "Broad brine," Saxon. At the time this ode was written, the Saxons had been in possession of England about 400 years.

With shock of lances, keen and bright,
The Welch subdued in valour's spite;
When, in the ages old and gone,

The Earls they quelled, the land they won.

ADDENDA.

"It is rather unfortunate," says Mr. Ritson, "that among the tolerably numerous relics of Saxon literature still extant, we find no songs. In the Saxon Chronicle, indeed, there are two or three poetical pieces, the principal one being in celebration of King Athelstane's victory, gained over Anlaff the Dane; which may be specimens of their ode, and were, possibly, sung to the harp. There is also extant, a short poem in praise of the city of Durham."

What limits Mr. Ritson assigns to the term song, we cannot precisely ascertain; but we find, from higher authorities on this subject, that the remains of Saxon poetry are by no means so few or insignificant. On this subject, which is by much too important for the compass of these observations, or the Editor's capability, ample satisfaction will be found in the works of Hickes, Manning, Conybeare, Sharon Turner, &c. &c., and several excellent Grammars or Introductions in English, published within the last thirty years. We find King Alfred himself, to have been a poetical as well as prose author and translator; and some really elevated poems on sacred subjects were written by Cadmon, in the seventh century. They modelled their verse by alliteration, by a periodical return of the same letters in the words, and by rhythm; an ancient and classical term, which is not over-easy of definition; but which appears to mean an harmonious return of syllables of the same or equal sound, at regular distances or in short, such a position of words and cadences as has a melodious effect on a good ear. In its full acceptation, however, this phrase is applicable to sound, unconnected with letters or characters; it is consequently the essence of music, and its rudiments were to be found in the tones of Pythagoras's anvil. A good peal of eight bells, well set, contains the same essential properties of rhythm as a line of eight syllables. The AngloSaxons did not use feet, like the Greeks and Romans, in their poetry. Mr. Ritson confidently asserts that rhyme was not in use till after the Norman Conquest; but this is not true, as several examples of Anglo-Saxon rhymes are recorded in Mr. Turner's work; and from the circumstance of several Anglo-Saxon poets having written Latin verses in rhyme before the year 800, it is plain that this art was known in their day. In the Teutonic, or Runic, it was used in the vernacular poetry from an early period. But we

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