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THE

DESCENT of ODIN.

AN OD E, ..
NODE,

(From the NORSE-TONGUE,)

IN

BARTHOLINUS, de caufis contemnendæ mortis ; HAFNIE, 1689, Quarto.

UPREIS ODINN ALLDA GAUTR, &c.

****

THE

DESCENT of ODIN.

AN ODE.

Profe the King of Men with speed,

UP

And faddled ftrait his coal-black fteed;
;

Down the yawning steep he rode,

That leads to HELA's drear abode,

Niflheimr, the hell of the Gothic nations, confifted of nine worlds, to which were devoted all fuch as died of ficknefs, old-age, or by any other means than in battle: Over it prefided HELA, the Goddess of Death.

Him the Dog of Darkness fpied,

His fhaggy throat he open'd wide,

While from his jaws, with carnage fill'd,

Foam and human gore distill'd:

Hoarse he bays with hideous din,

Eyes that glow, and fangs, that grin;

And long pursues, with fruitless yell,

The Father of the powerful spell,

Onward ftill his way he takes,

(The groaning earth beneath him shakes,)

Till full before his fearless eyes.

The portals nine of hell arife.

Right against the eastern gate,

By the mofs-grown pile he fate;

Where

Where long of yore to fleep was laid

The duft of the prophetic Maid.

Facing to the northern clime,

Thrice he traced the runic rhyme;

Thrice pronounc'd, in accents dread,

The thrilling verfe that wakes the Dead;

Till from out the hollow ground

Slowly breath'd a fullen found.

PR. What call unknown, what charms prefume

To break the quiet of the tomb?

Who thus afflicts my troubled sprite,

And drags me from the realms of night?

Long

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