And on the watery waves went forth alone To fare on the flood-way: fain would he escape, 45 Stir up the sea-streams. By strife thy lord hath Won the fight against woe. No wish will he have For horses or jewels or the joys of mead-drinking, Nor any earl's treasures on earth to be found, O gentle lord's daughter, if he have joy in thee, 50 As by solemn vows ye have sworn to each other. I set as a sign S and R together, E, A, W, and D, as an oath to assure you That he stays for thee still and stands by his troth; And as long as he lives it shall last unbroken,-- 55 Which often of old with oaths ye have plighted. 1-6. The text here is so corrupt that an almost complete reconstruction has been necessary. 51. In the manuscript these letters appear as runes. For illustrations of the appearance of runes, see the introductory note to "Cynewulf and his School," p. 95, below. What these runes stood for, or whether they were supposed to possess unusual or magic power is purely a matter of conjecture. THE RUIN [Text used: Kluge, _Angelsaechsisches Lesebuch_. This description of a ruin with hot baths is generally assumed to be of the Roman city of Bath. The fact that the poet uses unusual words and unconventional lines seems to indicate that he wrote with his eye on the object.] Wondrous is its wall-stone laid waste by the fates. The burg-steads are burst, broken the work of the giants. The roofs are in ruins, rotted away the towers, The fortress-gate fallen, with frost on the mortar. 5 Broken are the battlements, low bowed and decaying, Eaten under by age. The earth holds fast The master masons: low mouldering they lie In the hard grip of the grave, till shall grow up and perish A hundred generations. Hoary and stained with red, 10 Through conquest of kingdoms, unconquered this wall endured, Stood up under storm. The high structure has fallen. Still remains its wall-stone, struck down by weapons. They have fallen . . . . . . . . . Ground down by grim fate . . . . . . . . 15 Splendidly it shone . . . . . . . . The cunning creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . from its clay covering is bent; Mind . . . . . . the swift one drawn. The bold ones in counsel bound in rings 19 The wall-foundations with wires, wondrously together. 20 Bright were the burgher's homes, the bath halls many, Gay with high gables --a great martial sound, Many mead-halls, where men took their pleasure, Till an end came to all, through inexorable fate. The people all have perished; pestilence came on them: