I Now doth the North his inmost secret yield; Now is there nothing more beyond; we know The Thule Ultima. The final woe Of the vast frozen zone, though triple-steeled With cold and storm, lays off the decent shield Granted it an eternity ago Among great gales, and silence, ice, and snow, When pallid Hela's horrors stalked afield. No more the lure of the North's hidden things Tempts man to pay the last and awful price; For secret was there none. Long wanderings Have proved again what trifles may entice Mankind; if but denied, the spirit springs Even at a flock of palaeocrystic ice! II Yet has the frosty deed full excellence. It is no barren thing to set a goal High and afar, and strive with iron soul, Throwing aside despair as vain pretence, Facing the terrors of the elements, Discarding failure, till, beside the Pole One's name is set, as on the eternal scroll Of those who win from Earth's own dissidence. Praise to the victor! Yet let laurels rest As well upon the still undaunted brow Of each who sought and won not from the rime The final triumph; these are not unblest, Though to a single soul the Norns allow This blending of Valhall and Niffleheim. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO CHLOE WHO FOR HIS SAKE WISHED HERSELF YOUNGER by WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT CHANSON INNOCENTE: 2, FR. TULIPS by EDWARD ESTLIN CUMMINGS THE CHINESE NIGHTINGALE; A SONG IN CHINESE TAPESTRIES by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY SONNET: 10. TO THE LADY MARGARET LEY by JOHN MILTON THE BANISHED LOVER by ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-MUSTAZHIR |