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1.
I will tell you my personal
testament,
2. tally the weight
of weary days,
3. the hours
of torment, the times of agony,
4.
the bitter heart-stabs I have
abided,
5. endured in anguish
in endless keels
6. thrown
through the troughs of towering
waves
often obsessed
in the cell of my heart
7.
through night's narrow watches as the prows
of my ships
8. dashed beside cliffs.
Cold grasped
9. my aching
feet, frost clenched my
skin,
10. chilling my bones,
while sorrow burned inward,
11. hot in my heart:
the hunger within
12. ate at
my spirit, sick of my
wandering
over the
ocean. He whose lot
13.
keeps him on land can never
know
14. my sorrow and need
on the freezing sea,
15. how I have endured
the path of the exile,
16.
deprived of my kin, through winters of
pain
17. hung with grim icicles
while hail scourged the
wind.
18. There I heard nothing
but the roar of the sea,
19.
the crash of the ice road. The swan's
blare,
20. did me for games --
the gannet's cry,
21. the
curlew's song for sociable laughter
--
22. the mew's singing for
the drinking of mead.
23. There storms beat the stone
cliffs, there the tern
answered
the
shattering waves with icy
feathers;
24. often the eagle's scream
surrounded the storm
25.
with feathers of darkness. No familiar
protector
26. could bring consolation
to my care riddled
spirit.
27. Yet those who enjoy
a complacent life
28. secure
in their cities, stately and
wine-proud,
29. cannot comprehend
why I must continue,
30.
however weary, to wander the
sea-path.
31. Snow swept from the north,
night's shadows
descended,
32. frost held earth bound,
snow covered the world,
33.
the coldest of grains. Yet thoughts grip my
heart,
34. need moves my spirit:
I must go by myself
35. over
the salt crests, the cavernous
ocean;
36. always my mind
moves toward the distance --
37. my heart beats
faster, I follow its
surge
38. alone as a pilgrim
to land far away.
39. Yet none is so spirited
nor strong in his
courage
40. nor generous in giving
nor vigorous in youth
41.
nor bold in his actions nor blessed by his
lord
42. that he has no fears
to follow the sea
43. to the
fate that the Lord has stored up for
him.
44. The harp does not hold him
nor the hoarding of
rings
45. nor the pleasures of love
nor worldly attainments
--
46. his only thought is
the tossing of waves --
47. though he has his
longings alone on the
sea.
48. Groves take blossom,
towns come alive,
49.
meadows flourish, the world is
refreshed;
50. all of this urges
the eager mind
51. of the
veteran traveler to venture
forth
52. into the distance
over deep seas.
53. Even the cuckoo,
the warden of summer,
54.
urges him forward with mournful
voice
foreboding
sorrow, the bitter fate
55.
of the innermost heart. Warriors at
home,
56. blessed with comfort,
can never know
57. how much
the sea-pacer must suffer and
bear
who follows
farthest the path of the
exile.
58. Yet now my heart
hammers my chest,
59. longs for the journey;
my hungering spirit
60.
soars out wide over the whale's
turf
61. to earth's far corners
and comes back to me
62.
insistant and greedy; the lone-glider
cries
63. irresistibly pulling
my soul to the whale's
path,
64. the boundless ocean.
For the bliss of the
Lord
65. is warmer to me
than this waking death
66. that flickers on land.
I have no faith
67. in
earthly possessions that pass in a
day.
68. Till the end of life's tide
one of three things
69.
remains uncertain in worldly
events:
70. illness or age
or hate driven swords
71. will take a man's life
as fate turns its way.
72.
Hence for all men it is best to accomplish
73. durable fame, renown in
the world,
74. among their survivors,
those who speak after
75.
they have departed, through deeds of
courage,
76. through memorable acts
against the fiends'
malice,
77. opposing the devil,
earning posterity's
78.
emulation and praise, and forever and
ever
79. enjoying the glory
of the angels in heaven,
80. the triumphant host.
The time has passed
81. for
earthly magnificence in majestic
realms;
82. now no emperors,
no imperial Caesars,
83. no givers of gold
do glorious deeds
84. among
their peers or live in splendor
85. in lordly dominion as
they did in past ages.
86. That fraternity has
fallen, the fellowship
ended;
87. weaklings now work
the world they left
88. in
grief and toil. Grandeur has faded,
89. earth's nobility ages
and whithers,
90. just like mankind
throughout middlearth.
91.
Decrepitude takes them, all grow pale,
92. white-headed they lament,
mourn for old friends,
93.
the children of nobles given to
earth.
94. When life has departed,
the cask of the flesh
95.
tastes nothing sweet, nor feels any
pain,
96. its hands cannot move,
nor its mind fashion
thoughts.
97. Though brother gives kinsman
a magnificent funeral,
98.
packing the coffin with precious
treasure,
99. with gold to his tribute,
it won't travel with him;
100. no
gold can aid nor gain
atonement
101. for a soul full of sin
in the presence of God,
102.
however he hoards it here on this
earth.
103. Great is the strength
of God almighty;
His terrible power turns over this
world.
104. It was He Who established
the earth's foundations,
105.
spread wide its face and framed it with
heaven.
106. A fool is he who fears not his
Lord,
fated to die without
preparation;
107. Blessed is he whose life is
humble,
heaven will grant him its
mercy.
108. The Lord will secure him a steadfast
spirit
because he surrenders to the power of
God.
109. A man must control the
heat of his
temper,
must find a firm base
for his fierce spirit,
110. must
honor his pledges and lead a pure
life.
111. Every man must learn
moderation
112. with friends and with foes,
[in fellowship and] anger.
113.
Though he may not wish to see his true
friends
114. filled with fire or
burned in the flames,
115. [yet he must keep patience:]
Fate has more power,
116. God has
more might than any man
knows.
117. Let us consider where
we have our true home,
118. then let us reflect
on how to arrive there,
119. then
let us labor to enter that
place,
120. and there find the blessings,
the beauties of heaven,
121. where
the source of life is the love of
God
122. in endless peace.
Eternally thank
123. our Lord in the highest,
that he should so honor us,
124.
the Prince of Glory, throughout all
time.
Amen.
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