Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. V. Browning to Rupert Brooke

William Morris (1834–1896)

Extracts from Sigurd the Volsung: The Wisdom of Brynhild

BE wise, and cherish thine hope in the freshness of the days,

And scatter its seed from thine hand in the field of the people’s praise;

Then fair shall it fall in the furrow, and some the earth shall speed,

And the sons of men shall marvel at the blossom of the deed:

But some the earth shall speed not: nay rather, the wind of the heaven

Shall waft it away from thy longing—and a gift to the Gods hast thou given,

And a tree for the roof and the wall in the house of the hope that shall be,

Though it seemeth our very sorrow, and the grief of thee and me.

When thou hearest the fool rejoicing, and he saith, “It is over and past,

And the wrong was better than right, and hate turns into love at the last,

And we strove for nothing at all, and the Gods are fallen asleep;

For so good is the world a-growing that the evil good shall reap;”

Then loosen thy sword in the scabbard and settle the helm on thine head,

For men betrayed are mighty, and great are the wrongfully dead.

Wilt thou do the deed and repent it? them hadst better never been born:

Wilt thou do the deed and exalt it? then thy fame shall be outworn:

Thou shalt do the deed and abide it, and sit on thy throne on high,

And look on today and tomorrow as those that never die.