He gave then commands
To serve the hall-sitters till descending upon them
Dark night came near. The ignoble one ordered
35 The blessed maiden, burdened with jewels,
Freighted with rings, to be fetched in all haste
To his hated bedside. His behest they performed,
His corps of retainers --the commands of their lord,
Chief of the champions. Cheerfully they stepped
40 To the royal guest-room, where full ready they found
The queenly Judith, and quickly then
The goodly knights began to lead
The holy maiden to the high tent,
Where the rich ruler rested always,
45 Lay him at night, loathsome to God,
Holofernes. There hung an all-golden
Radiant fly-net around the folk-chief's
Bed embroidered; so that the baleful one,
The loathed leader, might look unhindered
50 On everyone of the warrior band
Who entered in, and on him none
Of the sons of men, unless some of his nobles,
Contrivers of crime, he called to his presence:
His barons to bring him advice. Then they bore to his rest
55 The wisest of women; went then the strong-hearted band
To make known to their master that the maiden of God
Was brought to his bower. Then blithe was the chief in his
heart,
The builder of burg-steads; the bright maiden he planned
With loathsome filth to defile, but the Father of heaven knew
60 His purpose, the Prince of goodness and with power he
restrained him,
God, the Wielder of Glory. Glad then the hateful one
Went with his riotous rout of retainers
Baleful to his bedside, where his blood should be spilled
Suddenly in a single night. Full surely his end approached
65 On earth ungentle, even as he lived,
Stern striver for evil, while still in this world
He dwelt under the roof of the clouds. Drunken with wine then
he fell
In the midst of his regal rest so that he recked not of counsel
In the chamber of his mind; the champions stepped
70 Out of his presence and parted in haste,
The wine-sated warriors who went with the false one,
And the evil enemy of man ushered to bed
For the last time.
Then the Lord's servant
The mighty hand-maiden, was mindful in all things
75 How she most easily from the evil contriver
His life might snatch ere the lecherous deceiver,
The creature crime-laden awoke. The curly-locked maiden
Of God then seized the sword well ground,
Sharp from the hammers, and from its sheath drew it
80 With her right hand; heaven's Guardian she began
To call by name, Creator of all
The dwellers in the world, and these words she spoke:
"O Heavenly God, and Holy Ghost,
Son of the Almighty, I will seek from Thee
85 Thy mercy unfailing to defend me from evil,
O Holiest Trinity. Truly for me now
Full sore is my soul and sorrowful my heart,
Tormented with griefs. Grant me, Lord of the skies,
Success and soundness of faith, that with this sword I may
90 Behead this hideous monster. Heed my prayer for salvation,
Noble Lord of nations; never have I had
More need of thy mercy; mighty Lord, avenge now
Bright-minded Bringer of glory, that I am thus baffled in
spirit,
Heated in heart." Her then the greatest of Judges
95 With dauntless daring inspired, as he doth ever to all
The sons of the Spirit who seek him for help,
With reason and with right belief. Then was to the righteous in
mind,
Holy hope renewed; the heathen man then she took,
And held by his hair; with her hands she drew him
100 Shamefully toward her, and the traitorous deceiver
Laid as she listed, most loathsome of men,
In order that easily the enemy's body
She might wield at her will. The wicked one she slew,
The curly-locked maiden with her keen-edged sword,
105 Smote the hateful-hearted one till she half cut through
Severing his neck, so that swooning he lay
Drunken and death-wounded. Not dead was he yet,
Nor lifeless entirely: the triumphant lady
More earnestly smote the second time
110 The heathen hound, so that his head was thrown
Forth on the floor; foul lay the carcass,
Bereft of a soul; the spirit went elsewhere
Under the burning abyss where abandoned it lay,
Tied down in torment till time shall cease,
115 With serpents bewound, amid woes and tortures,
All firmly fixed in the flames of hell,
When death came upon him. He durst not hope,
Enveloped in blackness, to venture forth ever
From that dreary hole, but dwell there he shall
120 Forever and aye till the end of time,
In that hideous home without hope of joy.
52. Here begins a series of extended lines which some critics think are
intended to lend an air of solemnity to the passage. A study of the
occurrence of these long lines in this and other poems, such as _The
Wanderer_, _The Charms_, or _Widsith_, does not seem to bear out this
contention. Usually these long lines have three accents in each half.
The rules for the alliteration are the same as for the short verses.