Shaft upon shield resoundeth. And yonder breaks the moon In came the host of Frisians. Finnsburg they girt about. Upon the couch rose Hengist, and bespoke him with a laugh: "Welcome, King Finn, from Hengist, though there be none from Hnaef."' Upon his lips was laughter when his last word was said. With a mock at the destroyer he fell back upon the bed. Up came the Marshal Unferth. "Slay me those Danes,'' said he. Finn looked on Hengist's henchman and answered, "Let them be. For a little thing and scornful, over many have we slain. An I had not dealt with treason, well had the matter lain.'' Quoth Unferth: "It were folly to let his henchmen go. Who to the dead are faithful may bring the living low." King Finn brooked not the saying. He bade the Danes depart. And he turned back from the battle in bitterness of heart. With darkness in his spirit, the trampling ranks between, He came not as in triumph to Hildeburh the Queen. All women have their sorrow. Is none upon the earth But of great grief hath knowledge, though she bear or give not birth. By the lover or the brother, by the husband or the son, Turn now to Oslaf and Guthlaf that departed by Finn's leave. Within the bound of Friesland they halted not to grieve. They came anew to Denmark and there they made them strong, For a winter and a winter brooding on Hengist's wrong. And Snaebiorn the singer dwelt with them in the hold. Only he plucked no longer the harpstring as of old. The singer when he sinneth casteth his strength away. Whoso the fool that playeth hath no more heart to play. But the two henchmen kept him and gave him bite and sup. He was to them a token to keep their anger up. The plot that they had plotted to Snaebiorn they showed. On the evening that he knew it to Finn he took the road. So he came into Friesland. He came to the hall of Finn. Finn was gone forth, but Unferth the marshal bode within. He looked but once on Snaebiorn. From the wall he snatched the thong. They beat once more in Friesland the singer of the song. He sank beneath the scourges. The blood ran swift and red. To Hildeburh her bower he wended as of old, And tenderly he kissed her though his heart was cruel cold. He lay in the bower a season and drowsed with his head on her breast, But he dreamed of a broken sword-blade and woke in fear and unrest. In bitterness of spirit he sat him down to eat. But he dreamed of a broken swordblade and woke in fear and unrest. Who strives against the devil hath a hard fight to win. And the devil and his angels were entered into Finn. Oslaf and Guthlaf the henchman had ripened well their plot. For Snaebiorn the minstrel they sought but found him not. Without him straight on shipboard they mounted with their host. Finn woke at dead of midnight. Naught but the curtain stirred. To Hildeburh his lady he spake a little word. "It is ill to bear And she woke and listened to him, and he said: And again King Finn was speaking: "I shall waken in the morn, Guthlaf tore down the curtain crying: "Traitor, not again Shalt thou see the summer dawning or earth or sky or sea. Vengeance for Hnaef and Hengist, and a dog's death for thee!' Forthwith a hell of torches flamed upward in the hall. There was a mighty shouting and the horns blared over all. Right upon Finn ran Guthlaf and lifted high the brand. Finn warded off the sword-stroke with the bolster in his hand. From the wall he caught a long-sword and swung it over head. The blood from Guthlaf's shoulder spattered on the royal bed. The King drove Guthlaf backward and Oslaf fled aside. Cried Finn aloud: "Ho! Frisians, they shall die as Hengist died." But the great hall was silent. No voice gave back the cry. No friend might give him answer, when Finn stood up to die. Only he saw before him the brandished torches flame, And the fierce eyes of foemen, and blood, and his own shame. And he cast one glance on Hildeburh and his soul was torn apart, As the world's wave of sorrow came breaking through his heart. Then like a king he turned him, dreadless for mighty pain, Where with seven chosen spearmen, Oslaf came back again. They speared him like a salmon. On the floor the red blood ran. King Finn had such an ending as became a gallant man. Oslaf and Guthlaf with him looked a moment on the dead. Then they got them upon horseback and like the wind they fled. Hard over heath and barren they galloped to the ships. How were these fierce deeds woven, on what relentless loom, The woof of the disaster through the changeless warp of doom? The courage of the gallant and the strength of them that strove Are overthrown and broken by the might of hate and love. The fool caught in the meshes of the knave a tale may tell. For good men die by folly, as by their truth they live GOLDEN JUBILEE ADDRESS* IRA WOODS HOWERTH A traveler once greeted the poet Longfellow with the remark, "I find you have no ruins in this country, and so I have come to visit you!" Berkeley is not yet old enough to have any ruins, if we except North Hall on the University Campus, but it is old enough to have a history and certain traditions which warrant this celebration. We have met, as I need hardly remind you, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the naming of this city, and to dedicate a public and a permanent means of displaying on all suitable occasions our nation's flag. We thus combine, in the exercises of this day, an expression of civic interest with a manifestation of national pride. The primary occasion of our coming together is more or less unique. It not infrequently happens that citizens assemble to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of a city; it rarely occurs that a holiday is declared and public exercises conducted to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the bestowal of a city's name. It must be, therefore, that the name of Berkeley has some unusual and special significance. Shakespeare asks, "What's in a name?" and seems to imply that, so far as an individual is concerned, it is not important. There is a sense in which this is true. Doubt Delivered on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the city of Berkeley, California, May 24, 1916. |