But some the earth shall speed not:  nay rather, the wind of the heaven
    Shall waft it away from thy longing—­and a gift to the Gods hast thou
      given,
    And a tree for the roof and the wall in the house of the hope that
      shall be,
    Though it seemeth our very sorrow, and the grief of thee and me.

    “Strive not with the fools of man-folk:  for belike thou shalt overcome;
    And what then is the gain of thine hunting when thou bearest the
      quarry home? 
    Or else shall the fool overcome thee, and what deed thereof shall grow? 
    Nay, strive with the wise man rather, and increase thy woe and his woe;
    Yet thereof a gain hast thou gotten; and the half of thine heart hast
      thou won
    If thou may’st prevail against him, and his deeds are the deeds thou
      hast done: 
    Yea, and if thou fall before him, in him shalt thou live again,
    And thy deeds in his hand shall blossom, and his heart of thine heart
      shall be fain.

    “When thou hearest the fool rejoicing, and he saith, ’It is over and
      past,
    And the wrong was better than right, and hate turns into love at the
      last,
    And we strove for nothing at all, and the Gods are fallen asleep;
    For so good is the world a growing that the evil good shall reap:’ 
    Then loosen thy sword in the scabbard and settle the helm on thine
      head,
    For men betrayed are mighty, and great are the wrongfully dead

    “Wilt thou do the deed and repent it? thou hadst better never been
      born: 
    Wilt thou do the deed and exalt it? then thy fame shall be outworn: 
    Thou shalt do the deed and abide it, and sit on thy throne on high,
    And look on today and tomorrow as those that never die.

    “Love thou the Gods—­and withstand them, lest thy fame should fail in
      the end,
    And thou be but their thrall and their bondsmen, who wert born for
      their very friend: 
    For few things from the Gods are hidden, and the hearts of men they
      know,
    And how that none rejoiceth to quail and crouch alow.

    “I have spoken the words, beloved, to thy matchless glory and worth;
    But thy heart to my heart hath been speaking, though my tongue hath
      set it forth: 
    For I am she that loveth, and I know what thou wouldst teach
    From the heart of thine unlearned wisdom, and I needs must speak thy
      speech.”

    Then words were weary and silent, but oft and o’er again
    They craved and kissed rejoicing, and their hearts were full and fain.

    Then spake the Son of Sigmund:  “Fairest, and most of worth,
    Hast thou seen the ways of man-folk and the regions of the earth? 
    Then speak yet more of wisdom; for most meet meseems it is
    That my soul to thy soul be shapen, and that I should know thy bliss.”