Of heaven; and mightily, as winged, he flew. And Hermod saw the towers of Asgard rise; And he drew near, and heard no living voice In Asgard; and the golden halls were dumb. Then Hermod knew what labor held the gods; And through the empty streets he rode, and passed Under the gate-house to the sands, and found The gods on the seashore by Balder’s ship. III. FUNERAL. The gods held talk together, grouped in knots, Round Balder’s corpse, which they had thither borne; And Hermod came down towards them from the gate. And Lok, the father of the serpent, first Beheld him come, and to his neighbor spake,-- “See, here is Hermod, who comes single back From hell; and shall I tell thee how he seems? Like as a farmer, who hath lost his dog, Some morn, at market, in a crowded town,-- Through many streets the poor beast runs in vain, And follows this man after that, for hours; And late at evening, spent and panting, falls Before a stranger’s threshold, not his home, With flanks a-tremble, and his slender tongue Hangs quivering out between his dust-smeared jaws, And piteously he eyes the passers-by; But home his master comes to his own farm, Far in the country, wondering where he is,-- So Hermod comes to-day unfollowed home.” And straight his neighbor, moved with wrath, replied,-- “Deceiver! fair in form, but false in heart! Enemy, mocker, whom, though gods, we hate,-- Peace, lest our father Odin hear thee gibe! Would I might see him snatch thee in his hand, And bind thy carcass, like a bale, with cords, And hurl thee in a lake, to sink or swim! If clear from plotting Balder’s death, to swim; But deep, if thou devisedst it, to drown, And perish, against fate, before thy day.” So they two soft to one another spake. But Odin looked toward the land, and saw His messenger; and he stood forth, and cried. And Hermod came, and leapt from Sleipner down, And in his father’s hand put Sleipner’s rein, And greeted Odin and the gods, and said,-- “Odin, my father, and ye, gods of heaven! Lo, home, having performed your will, I come. Into the joyless kingdom have I been, Below, and looked upon the shadowy tribes Of ghosts, and communed with their solemn queen; And to your prayer she sends you this reply:-- _Show her through all the world the signs of grief!_ _Fails but one thing to grieve, there Balder stops!_ _Let gods, men, brutes, beweep him; plants and stones._ _So shall she know your loss was dear indeed,_ _And bend her heart, and give you Balder back._” He spoke, and all the gods to Odin looked; And straight the Father of the ages said,-- “Ye gods, these terms may keep another day. But now put on your arms, and mount your steeds, And in procession all come near, and weep Balder; for that is what the dead desire.