And then the blue-eyed Norseman told <br />A Saga of the days of old. <br />'There is,' said he, 'a wondrous book <br />Of Legends in the old Norse tongue, <br />Of the dead kings of Norroway,-- <br />Legends that once were told or sung <br />In many a smoky fireside nook <br />Of Iceland, in the ancient day, <br />By wandering Saga-man or Scald; <br />Heimskringla is the volume called; <br />And he who looks may find therein <br />The story that I now begin.' <br /> <br />And in each pause the story made <br />Upon his violin he played, <br />As an appropriate interlude, <br />Fragments of old Norwegian tunes <br />That bound in one the separate runes, <br />And held the mind in perfect mood, <br />Entwining and encircling all <br />The strange and antiquated rhymes <br />with melodies of olden times; <br />As over some half-ruined wall, <br />Disjointed and about to fall, <br />Fresh woodbines climb and interlace, <br />And keep the loosened stones in place.<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tales-of-a-wayside-inn-part-1-interlude-iv/
