. . . . . . . . . . She doubted [not] the gifts
In this wide world. There worthily she found
Help at the hands of the Lord, when she had the highest need,
Grace from God on high, that against the greatest of dangers
5 The Lord of Hosts should protect her; for this the Heavenly
Father
Graciously granted her wish, for she had given true faith
To the holy Ruler of heaven.
Holofernes then, I am told,
Called his warriors to a wine-feast and a wondrous and glorious
Banquet prepared. To this the prince of men
10 Bade the bravest of thanes. Then with bold haste
To the powerful prince came the proud shield-warriors,
Before the chief of the folk. That was the fourth day
Since the gentle Judith, just in her thoughts,
Of fairy-like beauty, was brought to the king.
15 Then they sought the assembly to sit at the banquet,
Proud to the wine-pouring, all his partners in woe,
Bold burnie-warriors. Bowls large and deep
Were borne along the benches; beakers also and flagons
Full to the feasters. Fated they drank it,
20 Renowned shield-knights, though he knew not their doom,
The hateful lord of heroes. Holofernes, the king,
Bestower of jewels, took joy in the wine-pouring,
Howled and hurled forth a hideous din
That the folk of the earth from afar might hear
25 How the stalwart and strong-minded stormed and bellowed,
Maddened by mead-drink; he demanded full oft
That the brave bench-sitters should bear themselves well.
So the hellish demon through the whole of the day
Drenched with drink his dear companions,
30 The cruel gold-king, till unconscious they lay,
All drunk his doughty ones, as if in death they were slain,
Every good gone from them.
1. Although the fragment begins in the middle of a line, it presents the
appearance of being practically complete. Certainly, as it stands it
makes an artistic whole: we begin and end the poem by showing how
Judith was favored of God. Within a very short space after the opening
lines we are in the midst of the action: Judith has come from her
beleaguered city of Bethulia and enchanted Holofernes by her beauty,
and Holofernes has finished his great feast by summoning her to him.
All this is put before us in the first 37 lines. The rest of the poem
is vividly conceived, from the slaying of the Assyrian king to the
final victory and rejoicing.