The Norseman's King must stand up tall, If he would be head over all; Mainmast of Battle! when the plain Is miry-red with bloody rain! And grip his weapon for the fight, Until his knuckles grin tooth-white, The banner-staff he bears is best If double handful for the rest: When "follow me" cries the Norseman. He knows the gentler side of Old Norse character, too, a side which, as we have seen, was not suspected till Carlyle came: He hides at heart of his rough life, A world of sweetness for the Wife; From his rude breast a Babe may press Soft milk of human tenderness,-- Make his eyes water, his heart dance, And sunrise in his countenance: In merriest mood his ale he quaffs By firelight, and with jolly heart laughs The blithe, great-hearted Norseman. The poem "Old King Hake," is as strikingly true in characterization as the preceding. In half a dozen strophes Massey has told a whole saga, and has found time, too, to describe "an iron hero of Norse mould." How miserable a personage is the Italian that flits through Browning's pages when contrasted with this hero: When angry, out the blood would start With old King Hake; Not sneak in dark caves of the heart, Where curls the snake, And secret Murder's hiss is heard Ere the deed be done: He wove no web of wile and word; He bore with none. When sharp within its sheath asleep Lay his good sword, He held it royal work to keep His kingly word. A man of valour, bloody and wild, In Viking need; And yet of firelight feeling mild As honey-mead. Another poem, "The Banner-Bearer of King Olaf," pictures the strong fighter in a death he rejoiced to die. It is a good poem of the class that nerves men to die for the flag, and it has the Old Norse spirit. These poems are all from Massey's volume _My Lyrical Life_ (London. 1889).