Path of the Dane to fame and might! 
   Dark-rolling wave! 
Receive thy friend, who, scorning flight
Goes to meet danger with despite,
Proudly as thou the tempest’s might
   Dark-rolling wave! 
And amid pleasures and alarm;
And war and victory, be thine arms
   My grave!

THE ELECTED KNIGHT

Sir Oluf he rideth over the plain,
  Full seven miles broad and seven miles wide,
But never, ah never can meet with the man
 A tilt with him dare ride.

He saw under the hillside
 A Knight full well equipped;
His steed was black, his helm was barred;
  He was riding at full speed.

He wore upon his spurs
  Twelve little golden birds;
Anon he spurred his steed with a clang,
  And there sat all the birds and sang.

He wore upon his mail
  Twelve little golden wheels;
Anon in eddies the wild wind blew,
  And round and round the wheels they flew.

He wore before his breast
  A lance that was poised in rest;
And it was sharper than diamond-stone,
  It made Sir Oluf’s heart to groan.

He wore upon his helm
  A wreath of ruddy gold;
And that gave him the Maidens Three,
  The youngest was fair to behold.

Sir Oluf questioned the Knight eftsoon
 If he were come from heaven down;
“Art thou Christ of Heaven,” quoth he,
 “So will I yield me unto thee.”

“I am not Christ the Great,
 Thou shalt not yield thee yet;
I am an Unknown Knight,
  Three modest Maidens have me bedight.”

“Art thou a Knight elected,
  And have three Maidens thee bedight
So shalt thou ride a tilt this day,
  For all the Maidens’ honor!”

The first tilt they together rode
  They put their steeds to the test,
The second tilt they together rode,
  They proved their manhood best.

The third tilt they together rode,
  Neither of them would yield;
The fourth tilt they together rode,
  They both fell on the field.

Now lie the lords upon the plain,
  And their blood runs unto death;
Now sit the Maidens in the high tower,
  The youngest sorrows till death.

CHILDHOOD

BY JENS IMMANUEL BAGGESEN

There was a time when I was very small,
  When my whole frame was but an ell in height;
Sweetly, as I recall it, tears do fall,
  And therefore I recall it with delight.

I sported in my tender mother’s arms,
  And rode a-horseback on best father’s knee;
Alike were sorrows, passions and alarms,
  And gold, and Greek, and love, unknown to me,

Then seemed to me this world far less in size,
  Likewise it seemed to me less wicked far;
Like points in heaven, I saw the stars arise,
  And longed for wings that I might catch a star.