The Witch-wife dwells by the Northern Sea
And it’s oh but the wind pipes shrill!
Alone on the waveworn shore sits she,
Where the boisterous winds blow wild and free
From the icefields drear and chill.
She sits by the reef where seamen drown
When the sea-mist’s swirling grey,
And she wears on her brow a golden crown,
For she rules the seals from the North Cape down
To the coast of Noroway.
Over her shoulders her dank locks stream
And it’s oh but the wind blows cold!
And she sits as one who is lost in a dream;
But the curl of her lip and her eye’s cold gleam
Bodes ill for the sailor bold.
King Eric has sailed from Noroway,
O’er the wintry sea he roves,
And he’s hunted the seals for a month and a day
Over the icepack cold and grey,
The seals that the Witch-wife loves.
And over the sea to his home he steers,
His long, long hunting o’er,
And “Lo!” he cries, “the light appears,
That ever my longing vision cheers
When I near my native shore.”
The good ship steers for the welcome light
And it’s oh but the waves roll cold!
Lured to her doom in the dead of night
By the treacherous lamps so calm and bright
That the weird sea-maidens hold.
She leaps on the rocks like a hunted thing,
And the waves now leap above.
Such was the fate of Eric the King,
Who hunted the seals to his ruining,
The seals that the Witch-maids love!
(Cicely Fox Smith)
More Poetry from Cicely Fox Smith:
Cicely Fox Smith Poems based on Topics: Night, Light, Cry, Dreams, Kings & Queens, Love, Fate & Destiny- The Quest Of The Queen (Cicely Fox Smith Poems)
- The Rhyme Of The Four Strong Men (Cicely Fox Smith Poems)
- Missing (Cicely Fox Smith Poems)
- Resurrection (Cicely Fox Smith Poems)
- The King's Grief (Cicely Fox Smith Poems)
- The Three Ships (Cicely Fox Smith Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Night Poems, Light Poems, Dreams Poems, Cry Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Fate & Destiny PoemsBased on Keywords: ruining, bodes, sea-mist, witch-wife, waveworn, sea-maidens, icefields, noroway, icepack
- The Hind And The Panther, A Poem In Three Parts : Part I. (John Henry Dryden Poems)
- The Tragedy of White Injustice (Marcus Mosiah Garvey Poems)
- Resignation Pt 1 (Edward Young Poems)
- The Minstrel; Or, The Progress Of Genius : Book I. (James Beattie Poems)
- A Poem On The African Slave Trade. Addressed To Her Own Sex. Part II (Mary Birkett Card Poems)