THE COLLECTED POEMS OF HENRIK IBSEN Translated by John ...

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The cutter in tow astern.
The lord came aft, doffed the hat he wore,
His lady, with babe, at his heel;
“Preserve us alive from this surf’s wild roar,
I promise more wealth than you’ve lacked before.” —
But the pilot let go the wheel.
His cheek became white, a laugh twitched his lip
Like a smile that breaks through at last.
Carried in further the lord’s fine ship
Ran up on the reef, stuck fast.
“Abandon ship! To the boats with all speed,
My lady, my lord I say!
We’ll shiver to pieces, — clear signs to read, —
But closer inshore there’s the sheltered lead;
My wake-line will show you the way!”
Phosphorous blazed as they raced along
Towards land with the precious load.
Aft stood the pilot, tall and strong,
And keenly his fierce eye glowed.
He sighted to leeward on Gjæsling’s bare top
And on Hesnes Sound windward as well;
Then letting go helm and the stay-sail strop
He lifted an oar-butt and let it drop
And stove in the cutter’s shell.
In rushed the sea with a burst of spray, — —
A shudder ran through the wreck — ;
But the mother, all pallid with dismay,
Had snatched up her child from the deck.
“Anna my baby” she cried out distraught;
The greybeard he started, did he;
He put the helm over, he made the sheet taut,
The boat seemed a very bird when brought
To ride the rough seething sea.
It grounded, they sank; but calmness itself
Inshore of the arc of rough seas;
Under the boat ran a hidden shelf,
The water came up to their knees.
His lordship shouted: “The reef — look here,
It’s moving — no skerry I trow!”
The pilot smiled: “You have nought to fear:
Three barley-casks on a boat sunk here
Is the reef that holds us now.”
The thought of a half-forgotten deed
Flashed over his lordship’s face —
The seaman who’d knelt on his deck to plead
In tears — he recalled apace!