THE
DESCENT OF ODIN,
ANODE.

UPROSE the King of men with speed,
And faddled ftrait his coal-black ffeed;
Down the yawning steep he rode,
That leads to HELA's drear abode.
Him the dog of darkneſs spied;
His ſhaggy throat he opened wide,
While from his jaws, with carnage fill'd,
Foam and human gore diſtill'd.
Hoarſe he brays with hideous din,
Eyes that glow, and fangs that grin;
And

120 THE DESCENT OF ODIN.

And long purfues, with fruitlesfs yell,
The father of the powerful spell.
Onward still his way he takes,
(The groaning earth beneath him shakes,)
Till full before his fearlesfs eyes
The portals nine of hell arife.

Right against the eastern gate,
By the mofs-grown pile he fat,
Where long of yore to sleep was laid
The duft of the prophetic Maid.
Facing to the northern clime,
Thrice he trac'd 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.

PRO-