"Death-raven now comes towering, Comes scowering, O'er hill and stream; But when wilt thou, Dame Sigrid fair, Thy plighted word redeem." A hollow moan from Sigrid's bosom came, While he survey'd her with his eye of flame: "Fly," said she; "demon monster, get thee hence! My humble pray'r shall be my son's defence." She cross'd herself, and then the fiend flew out; But first, contemptuously he danc'd about, And sang, "No pray'r shall save him from my rage; In Christian blood my thirst I will assuage." Young Harrald seiz'd his scarlet cap, and cried, "I'll probe the grief my mother fain would hide;" Then, rushing into her apartment fair, "O mother," said he, "wherefore sitt'st thou there, Far from thy family at dead of night, With lips so mute, and cheeks so ghastly white? Tell me what lies so heavy at thy heart; Grief, when confided, loses half its smart." "O Harrald," sigh'd she, yielding to his pray'r, "Creatures are swarming in the earth and air, Who, wild with wickedness, and hot with wrath, Wage war on those who follow virtue's path. One of those fiends is on the watch for thee, Arm'd with a promise wrung by him from me: His blood-shot eyes in narrow sockets roll, And every night he leaves his mirksome hole. "He was a kind of God, in former days; Kings worshipp'd him, and minstrels sang his praise; But when Christ's doctrine through the dark North flam'd, His, and all evil spirits' might was tam'd. He now is but a raven; yet is still Full strong enough to work on thee his will: Lost is the wretch who in his power falls-- Vainly he shrieks, in vain for mercy calls." She whisper'd to him then, with bloodless lip, What had befallen her on board the ship; But youthful Harrald listen'd undismay'd, And merely gripp'd the handle of his blade. "My son," she murmur'd, when her tale was told, "Fear withers me, but thou look'st blythe and bold." The youth uplifted then his sparkling eye, And said, whilst gazing on the moon-lit sky, "Once, my dear mother, at the close of day, Among tall flowers in the grove I lay, Soft sang the linnets from a thousand trees, And, sweetly lull'd, I slumber'd by degrees. Then, heaven's curtain was, methought, undrawn, And, clad in hues that deck the brow of morn, An angel slowly sank towards the earth, Which seem'd to hail him with a smile of mirth. "He rais'd his hand, and bade me fix my eye Upon a chain which, hanging from the sky, Embrac'd the world; and, stretching high and low, Clink'd, as it mov'd, the notes of joy and wo: The links that came in sight were purpled o'er Full frequently with what seem'd human gore; Of various metals made, it clasp'd the mould,-- Steel clung to silver, iron clung to gold.