Him the Dog of Darkness spied,

His shaggy 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 still his way he takes,

(The groaning earth beneath him shakes,)
Till full before his fearless eyes

The portals nine of hell arise.

Right against the eastern gate,
By the moss-grown pile he sate;
Where long of yore to sleep was laid
The dust of the prophetic Maid.
Facing to the northern clime,

Thrice he traced the runic rhyme ;
Thrice pronounc'd, in accents dread,

ΙΟ

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The thrilling verse that wakes the Dead;
Till from out the hollow ground

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Slowly breath'd a sullen sound.

PR. What call unknown, what charms presume

To break the quiet of the tomb?

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O. A Traveller, to thee unknown,

Is he that calls, a Warriour's Son.

Thou the deeds of light shalt know;

Tell me what is done below,

For whom yon glitt'ring board is spread,

Drest for whom yon golden bed.

PR. Mantling in the goblet see The pure bev'rage of the bee, O'er it hangs the shield of gold;

'Tis the drink of Balder bold :

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PR. Hie thee hence, and boast at home,

1 Lok is the evil Being, who continues in chains till the Twilight of the Gods approaches, when he shall break his bonds; the human race, the stars, and sun, shall disappear; the earth sink in the seas, and fire consume the skies: even Odin himself and his kindreddeities shall perish. For a farther explanation of this mythology, see Mallet's Introduction to the History of Denmark, 1755, Quarto.

XVI.

THE TRIUMPHS OF OWEN.

A FRAGMENT.

FROM MR. EVANS's Specimens of the Welch Poetry; LONDON, 1764, Quarto.

ADVERTISEMENT.

OWEN succeeded his Father GRIFFIN in the Principality of North-Wales, A.D. 1120. This battle was fought near forty Years afterwards.

Dauntless on his native sands
The Dragon-Son of Mona stands; 1
In glitt'ring arms and glory drest,
High he rears his ruby crest.
There the thund'ring strokes begin,
There the press, and there the din ;
Talymalfra's rocky shore

Echoing to the battle's roar.
Where his glowing eye-balls turn,
Thousand Banners round him burn.
Where he points his purple spear,
Hasty, hasty Rout is there,
Marking with indignant eye
Fear to stop, and shame to fly.
There Confusion, Terror's child,
Conflict fierce, and Ruin wild,
Agony, that pants for breath,
Despair and honourable Death.

XVII.

THE DEATH OF HOEL.

AN ODE, SELECTED FROM THE GODODIN.

HAD I but the torrent's might,

With headlong rage and wild affright

Upon Deïra's squadrons hurl'd,

To rush, and sweep them from the world!

1 The red Dragon is the device of Cadwallader, which all his descendants bore on their banners.

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