Page:Kickerbocker Oct 1847 vol 30 no 4.djvu/12
Which, bending above it, formed a sky
Far brighter than is the azure stain
Of heaven in Beauty's timid eye.
Its stars were the gems that sparkling lie
Unknown in the depths of the ocean wide,
And its clouds were fleets that daily fly
Before the gale, o'er the dark-blue tide.
And there methought were gathered all
Whose loss had dimmed the eyes of Love,
And a countless throng on me did call,
To ask of friends in the world above.
The young, the old, the bright and fair,
Came crowding round with eager gaze,
All anxious in the news to share,
And to hear of the scenes of other days.
The morning with its eye of flame,
Came gazing on my swinging cot:
I woke from my sleep, but through my frame
Thrilled the thought that can never be forgot:
A thought that the fair cerulean sky,
On which we gaze, is a briny sea,
And that far beyond its depths doth lie
A land from sin and sorrow free!
E. C. Hine.
U. S. Sloop Albany
At Sea, Aug., 1847.
NORTHERN LITERATURE: THE EDDAS.
From the French of Marmier
The word Edda, as applied to the collection of songs by Sœmund, signifies ancient, and may possibly have been derived from Odda, the pleasant retreat to which the poet brought the results of his many travels, and where he passed his life in philosophic meditation.
The Edda poems are divided into two classes, Mythological and Historical. The first contains the cosmogony and theogonic dogmas of the Scandinavians, while the second belongs to the popular era of the Kœmper-viser, and the ballads of the Niebelungen. The former presents the life of the gods, the latter recounts the exploits of heroes. The one is filled with incessant struggles between the principles of good and evil, the other with bloody combats and implacable revenge. In short, one is the dramatic representation of Valhalla, the other that of the world. It is thus that the Eddas embrace in their extended range the whole circle of ancient mysteries, from the thrones of the giants to the grottoes of the fairies; from the dark abodes of Hella to the splendid halls attended by the Valkyrias.
It is impossible to assign the precise date at which these poems