King Valdemar And His Sister

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Title:     King Valdemar And His Sister
Author: George Borrow [More Titles by Borrow]

See, see, with Queen Sophy sits Valdemar bold.
About little Kirsten much parlance they hold.

"Now hark, my good Lord! I have this to propose,
That thou shalt give Kirsten to Buris for spouse.

A sister thou hast, I a brave brother own,
A wedding we'll have ere this good year be flown."

"It never shall happen, as long as I live,
That I to a horse-thief my sister will give.

My sister's a princess so fair and so bright,
But Buris is liker a groom than a knight."

Then pale as a corpse grew Sophia to see;
"My noble lord, wherefore despisest thou me?"

The Queen struck with fury her hand on the board:
"Be sure that I vengeance will have for that word."

King Valdemar now to the war-field should wend,
Behind stays Sir Buris the land to defend.

Forth, forth from the land the bold King his course bent,
So many a beautiful knight with him went.

Him followed so many a chivalrous band;
He disposed of his sister, the fair mirror's hand.

To a prince rich and fine and of valour approved,
He gave little Kirsten, his sister beloved.

With Buris Sophia sits over the board,
And much brooded she on King Valdemar's word.

"Sir Buris, my brother, list thou to my say:
Beguile the King's sister whilst he is away."

Sir Buris he cast on his sister his eyes:
"O why my dear sister dost talk in this guise?

To do such an act I will never consent,
To make her my wife is my wish and intent."

The Queen with her hand struck the table with force:
"Just, just as I bid thee direct thou thy course."

His mantle of azure Sir Buris puts on,
And unto the princess Sir Buris is gone.

With prayers late and early the maiden he tired,
But could not obtain from her what he desired.

"Sir Buris, why seekest thou me to betray?
To my brother for this thou must answer some day."

With ghastly white cheek did Sir Buris depart,
The maiden he loved from the depths of his heart.

Sir Buris flung on him his scarlet array,
And unto Sophia with speed took his way:

"The princess so firm and determined I find,
No knight in this world can e'er conquer her mind."

"A pretty man, thou, to take love-work in hand,
If the powerful Runes thou dost not understand."

"To the paths of fidelity I will return,
No wish do I feel your Rune-magic to learn.

King Valdemar left his domain to my care,
Shall I in return his dear sister ensnare?"

"O I will for thee the Rune-characters trace,
And thou them shalt cast in convenient place."

"Sir Buris has cast the Rune-letters, alas,
On the bridge over which little Kirsten should pass.

Little Kirsten with anguish was filled, and with care,
Must spite of herself to Sir Buris repair.

She knocked with her hand on the thick oaken door:
"Sir Buris, arise, let me into thy bower."

Upstood then Sir Buris, in scarlet array'd,
And straight he admitted the beautiful maid.

The whole night she lay in Sir Buris' embrace,
All to her own sorrow and daily distress.

Now on towards summer and autumn it drew,
So stout in the waist little Kirsten she grew.

Her true waiting maid little Kirsten address'd:
"To the chamber of stone now convey me in haste.

And there unto me do thou bring the mid-wife
But let not the Queen know thereof for thy life."

To her little foot-swain little Kirsten did say:
"Fetch hither Sir Buris, withouten delay."

They met on the lofty hall's high balcony,
Together discoursed they so sorrowfully.

They gave then each other a tender caress,
And swooned to the earth from of grief the excess.

The year has revolved, and home now from the fray,
King Valdemar cometh triumphant and gay.

In, in through the portal King Valdemar strode,
Sophia received him in complaisant mode.

About and around him King Valdemar stared:
"Say! where is my sister, and how has she fared?"

Then sly 'neath her scarlet laughed Sophy the Queen:
"It is full three months now since thy sister I've seen."

Sophia exclaim'd: "She is not to be taught,
My advice and monition she holdeth at naught."

"O why dost thou thus of my sister complain?
In honour she liv'd without ever a stain."

"The chamber of stone she has long made her home,
There she of a little child light has become."

Then the heart of the monarch was smitten with grief:
"To thy words, O Sophia, I yield no belief."

"The blessed Lord's truth and no lie have I told,
She invited me e'en her child-birth to behold."

To five of his good knights spake sternly the King:
"Depart, and my sister straight home to me bring."

The knights rode away as King Valdemar said,
Much rather, much rather, would they have been dead.

They struck on the door 'neath their mantle of skin:
"Sweet princess Kirstina, arise, let us in."

To the chamber straight came the true serving lass:
"We crave thy leave into the chamber to pass."

"O sirs, ye may enter as free as the morn,
For nobody here any baby has borne."

Then in sorrowful mood good Sir Peter replied:
"God grant that thy words I may see verified."

"Arise, little Kirsten, thyself quick array,
For thou to thy brother this night must away.

"Array thyself quick, for in hurry we are,
Thy brother the King has returned from the war."

"Alack, I dare venture my gold coronet,
That I shall my death by this night-journey get.

"My daughter now take, and in linen enfold,
The face of her mother no more she'll behold.

"Assist ye my daughter to Christentie's breast,
I fear that her luck will not be of the best.

"Let the name that ye give her be proud Ingerlill,
My fortune intends for me nothing but ill."

Little Kirsten her faithful maid servant address'd:
"Now fetch to me hither, I pray, my gilt chest."

The chest she unlocked where lay stored all her gear,
And distributed that midst her servants so dear.

And most to her maid she thought fit to award,
For she was to be her child's teacher and guard.

The gold, the red gold, she has given her so free,
That tender and kind to her child she might be.

"Every lady can well imagine how fit
At present I am on my courser to sit.

"And each man, I am sure, can imagine how ill
A journey nocturnal agree with me will."

On the saddle they placed her, with hearts full of care,
Glittered like the spun gold her beautiful hair.

And when they arrived at the lofty castelle,
Down, down from her horse little Kirstenlill fell.

At the window the Queen stood and laughed with delight:
"Come hither and view of your sister the plight."

To lift her from the ground little Knud was not slow:
"In the name of Lord Jesus the whole truth avow."

They helped her the stairs of the hall to ascend:
"Now thee to the powerful Christ we commend."

In the doorway she crossed herself thrice on the breast:
"To Christ I commend me, the mighty and blest."

Then in through the door little Kirsten she wends,
And his white hand to her the bold monarch tends.

Then unto her brother she gives her fair hand:
" I joy much to see thee returned to the land."

Much favour and friendship to her he display'd
And that Queen Sophia so furious made.

The king to the brim filled a beaker with wine:
"I beg of thee drink to me, dear sister mine!"

"Now hear, little Kirsten, what I to thee say,
Thou shalt sing before me some pretty love-lay."

"I never in all my life learnt a love-lay,
But I'll sing another as well as I may."

"O thou with thy dancing, and eke with thy voice,
The hearts of my guests shalt this evening rejoice."

To sing then a song little Kirsten began,
To the tune danced so many a bold knightly man.

The King himself sprang 'mid the dancers' gay band,
And his sister he took by the lilly-fair hand.

He out and in with her eagerly danced,
But nothing amiss in her movements he glanced.

So often the King proved the voice of the maid,
And still to her gait more attention he paid.

And the King measured her by the girdle with care,
But still he of nothing amiss was aware.

"O Sophia, may thee shame and evil betide,
My dear little Kirsten thou'st foully belied."

"It is the Lord's truth that I've told, and no lie,
She has brought forth a daughter in secrecy."

The Queen has yet worse little Kirsten distrest,
Her two lovely breasts she tore out from her vest.

And, craving her ruin, with hand resolute
She pressed out the milk before Valdemar's foot.

She pressed out the milk 'fore the King on the floor:
"My King and my husband, canst doubt any more?"

Then black as the earth grew King Valdemar's face,
And Kirstenlil swooned 'neath the load of disgrace.

"I intended to wed thee but full speedily,
Now thou shalt this evening with agony die.

"To a mighty lord I'd resolv'd thee to espouse,
Now this very night thy young life thou shalt lose.

"The death the most cruel and painful of all,
This night thou shalt suffer in this very hall."

Little Kirsten she fell 'fore the King on her knee:
"Dear brother! I pray shew some pity to me."

"Thy kneeling, O Kirsten, will profit thee nought,
The basest and vilest of sins thou hast wrought.

'Tis folly to hope I shall mercy display,
Thou injured me hast in such infamous way.

I promised thy hand, for of this nought I knew,
To the son of a king 'cross the Haf's water blue."

He turned to the foot-swain who stood at his side:
" Fetch hither five horse-whips," King Valdemar cried.

Little Kirsten she fell down upon her bare knee:
"Now mighty Lord God! look with mercy on me."

"For four whips or five whips thou needest not send,
One will be quite enough to bring me to my end."

The King in his hand the horse-scourges has ta'en,
His bosom with sorrow was filled, and with pain.

" Rise, rise Queen Sophia! and beg for me now,
For brought me to this have thy brother and thou."

"Little worthy were I of the title of Queen,
Were I to essay such a harlot to screen."

"I'll punish her so, though I love her full dear,
That all shall thereof with astonishment hear."

He lashed her so long, and he lashed her so sore,
That grovelling she lay in a stream of red gore.

She crept for defence 'neath Sophia's array,
With her foot she with vehemence spurned her away.

"O 'neath your red scarlet my poor body hide,
For the sake of the Christ who for us sinners died.

I let fall so many a big briny tear,
God's mercy upon me! my fate has been drear.

O brother, O brother, your cruel hand stay,
For a moment, that soul-gifts distribute I may.

I give to thyself all my castles so grand,
Because that my life thou dost hold in thy hand.

To my daughter so dear my red gold I bequeath,
For she shall cause vengeance be ta'en for my death.

I give to Queen Sophy my silver-cased knife,
Because she it was who betrayed my young life.

O Buris! God give thee misery smart,
Enveloped with care the most black is my heart.

And now I've my testament made to my mind,
Dear brother, prove towards me forgiving and kind.

I to Christ give my soul, may he shew it good grace,
There's no one, I trow, cares for me in this place."

She bade all good night that around her she spied.
And all for the damsel so piteously cried.

For her wept every dame, for her wept every maid,
All wept save Sophia, that vile wicked jade.

Then yielded the roselet her innocent sprite,
To God she commended it as it took flight.

O then was King Vald'mar with sorrow opprest,
And wildly his heart 'gan to knock in his breast.

"What a hard hearted wretch thou, O Sophy, must be,
That thou her distress without pity could see.

Shame upon thee, thou basest of all womankind,
Thou now hast obtained the great wish of thy mind.

Alack! well a day, my dear sister is dead;
Now where shall we bury the rose-flower red?"

"In Riber street, Sir, let thy flower repose,
That o'er her may tread every day my horse-shoes."

"O never shalt thou have the joy, that thy horse
Shall tread o'er the ground which concealth her corse.

To Vestervig's cloister her corse shall be sent,
O'er her shall be placed a red brick monument."

He caused her be buried with grandeur and state,
All the days of his life the King sighed for her fate.

"Now I will retire to a chamber of gloom,
A chamber which fire nor light shall illume.

There ne'er shall the blest sun on me cast its ray,
Till I've through repentance my sins wiped away."

To his page the King spake with so serious an air:
"Command thou Sir Buris to me to repair.

"Hark, hark thou, Sir Knight, what I now say to thee,
How hast thou been found in thy duty to me?

I left thee a vine-yard for thee to watch o'er,
Therein hast thou done me an injury sore.

The loveliest vine in the vineyard that stood,
That hast thou destroyed to thy own little good."

Sir Buris he fell on his knee 'fore the King:
"My dear lord and master, O pardon this thing."

"No, thou too shalt suffer both torment and shame,
To a sharp shameful death through thy treachery she came."

"The cruellest death ye for me can invent,
To thou for the beautiful maid I'm content."

"Let the eyes of the horse-thief be torn from his head,
Because he the beautiful damsel betray'd."

They've torn from the sockets Sir Buris's eyes,
In spite of Queen Sophy's entreaties and cries.

Sir Buris' right hand, and Sir Buris' left foot,
King Valdemar caused to be hewn off to boot.

From the Castle the knight they led forth on the green,
In mockery and scoff of Sophia the Queen.

"Behold now thy brother, that lord great and fine,
Who fain as a prince and a monarch would shine!"

The Dane-king a fetter has caused to be made,
On Buris in Vestervig cloister 'twas laid.

For eleven long years there was Sir Buris confin'd,
Each day to her grave went the knight lame and blind.

Each day that he lived of the King did he crave
That beside her when dead they might lay him in grave.

To the King he was forced to give land and domain,
Ere to rest in the cloister the boon he could gain.

He expired just as the twelfth year was begun--
The King never smiled Queen Sophia upon.

[The end]
George Borrow's poem: King Valdemar And His Sister

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