George Borrow

“ Then black as the earth grew King Valdemar’s face,
And Kirstenlil swooned ’neath the load of disgrace.
“I intended to wed thee but full speedily,
Now thou shalt this evening with agony die.
“To a mighty lord I’d resolv’d thee to espouse,
Now this very night thy young life thou shalt lose.
p. 26“The death the most cruel and painful of all,
This night thou shalt suffer in this very hall.”
Little Kirsten she fell ’fore the King on her knee:
“Dear brother! I pray shew some pity to me.”
“Thy kneeling, O Kirsten, will profit thee nought,
The basest and vilest of sins thou hast wrought. ”

“ For she shall cause vengeance be ta’en for my death.
I give to Queen Sophy my silver-cased knife,
Because she it was who betrayed my young life.
O Buris! God give thee misery smart,
Enveloped with care the most black is my heart. ”

“ To such an end should come.
Now will I rede, each honest man
Well to deliberate ever;
Unequalled woman’s cunning is,
Though guiles of men be clever.
She laughs when ’tis her wish to laugh,
And weeps when she will weep ”

“ No knight in this world can e’er conquer her mind.”
“A pretty man, thou, to take love-work in hand,
If the powerful Runes thou dost not understand.”
“To the paths of fidelity I will return,
No wish do I feel your Rune-magic to learn.
King Valdemar left his domain to my care,
Shall I in return his dear sister ensnare?”
“O I will for thee the Rune-characters trace,
And thou them shalt cast in convenient place.”
p. 17“Sir Buris has cast the Rune-letters, alas,
On the bridge over which little Kirsten should pass. ”

“ About and around him King Valdemar stared:
“Say! where is my sister, and how has she fared?”
p. 19Then sly ’neath her scarlet laughed Sophy the Queen:
“It is full three months now since thy sister I’ve seen.”
Sophia exclaim’d: “She is not to be taught,
My advice and monition she holdeth at naught.”
“O why dost thou thus of my sister complain?
In honour she liv’d without ever a stain.”
“The chamber of stone she has long made her home,
There she of a little child light has become.”
Then the heart of the monarch was smitten with grief:
“To thy words, O Sophia, I yield no belief.” ”

“ In woman ne’er confide;
In murder red, by woman led,
His hands Sir Nielus dyed.
p. 13KING VALDEMAR AND HIS SISTER
See, see, with Queen Sophy sits Valdemar bold.
About little Kirsten much parlance they hold.
“Now hark, my good Lord! I have this to propose,
That thou shalt give Kirsten to Buris for spouse.
A sister thou hast, I a brave brother own,
A wedding we’ll have ere this good year be flown.”
“It never shall happen, as long as I live,
That I to a horse-thief my sister will give.
My sister’s a princess so fair and so bright,
But Buris is liker a groom than a knight.” ”

“ And wildly his heart ’gan to knock in his breast.
“What a hard hearted wretch thou, O Sophy, must be,
That thou her distress without pity could see.
Shame upon thee, thou basest of all womankind,
Thou now hast obtained the great wish of thy mind.
p. 30Alack! well a day, my dear sister is dead;
Now where shall we bury the rose-flower red?”
“In Riber street, Sir, let thy flower repose,
That o’er her may tread every day my horse-shoes.”
“O never shalt thou have the joy, that thy horse
Shall tread o’er the ground which concealth her corse. ”