English poem
Well you know, Lord Herwic, our woe and plight forlorn
by Mary Pickering Nichols (1829–1915)
“Well you know, Lord Herwic, our woe and plight forlorn, And how the Hegeling warriors to help the queen have sworn. Yourself Queen Hilda trusteth more than any other; To none Gu-drun is dearer,— the homeless maid, long sundered from her mother.”
The well-born knight thus answered: “I know in truth too well How Hartmut had the boldness my fair betrothed to steal, Because his love she slighted, and hearkened to my wooing; For this Gu-drun, my lady, her father lost, and still her lot is ruing.
“My pledge and hearty greeting bear to your lady good; No more the Norman Hartmut by me shall be allowed To hold so long in bondage my own betrothéd maiden: For me, of all, ’tis fittest to bring the lady home, our lives to gladden.
More by Mary Pickering Nichols
- We ask you now to listen to a tale as yet untold
- We beg you first to tell us who this land doth own
- We now must leave them fighting as bravely as they will
- We now will speak no longer of the toil the maidens bore
- What more befell young Hartmut we now forbear to say
- When he had reached his castle, and sat with the queen alone
- When he the lion had smitten to death, with many blows
- When now the fight was over, and all were free from care