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~ Poetry by me ~

Hadding
A Sea-King's Death

A dear friend“s death      in distant lands
offered the omen             to face my own;
words rise half-drowned from drowsy oblivion:
No hand but my own      would bring my end.

No arm of woman           lay ever as lightly
around my neck              as now the noose
nor did my kinfolk           greet me as keenly
as high now the ravens“   call overhead.

The boughs above me    bend in the breeze;
set are my sails               but not for the swan“s path.
A branch of ash             will be my oar,
parting soon                   the wine-red sea.

The vessel is rushing,      taut is the rope;
my life-boat held            by Hangatyr“s hands.

 

© 2005 Michaela Macha

 

License: This poem may be freely distributed, provided it remains
unchanged, including the copyright notice and this License:

This work by Michaela Macha (www.odins-gift.com) is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License.

Who“s that guy Hadding ? Never heard of him !

Notes:
Metaphors: "swan“s path" - sea, "branch of ash" - spear, "wine-red sea" - blood.
Half of the lines are written in proper Old Meter (Fornyršislag), the other half just pretend to :).

Image: Detail from the Stora Hammars I Runestone, Laerbro/Gotland/Sweden.