21

I keep my snout to the ground; I burrow
deep into the earth, and churn it as I go,
guided by the gray foe of the forest
and by my lord, my stooping owner
who steps behind me; he drives me
over the field, supports and pushes me,
broadcasts in my wake. Brought from the wood,
borne on a wagon, then skillfully bound,
I travel onward; I have many scars.
There's a green on one flank wherever I go,
on the other my tracks - black, unmistakable.
A sharp weapon, rammed through my spine,
hangs beneath me; another, on my head,
firm and pointing forward, falls on one side
so I can tear the earth with my teeth
if my lord, behind me, serves me rightly.

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22

Sixty men in company came
riding down to the estuary. Eleven
of those mounted men has horses
of peace, and four had pale gray horses.
The warriors could not cross the water
as they wished for the channel was too deep,
the shelf too abrupt, the current too strong,
the choppy waves thronging. Then the men
and their horses climbed on to a wagon - a burden
hauled those proud spear-warriors with their steeds,
dragged the wagon right across the estuary,
although no ox, nor carthouse, nor muscular men
dragged it with him; and he did not swim,
nor wade because of his guests' weight,
nor muddy the water, nor ride on the wind,
nor double back. Rather, he carried
the warriors and their horses across the creek
from the steep bank, the staithe, so that they
stepped up bravely on the opposite side,
men and their mounts unscathed by water.

 
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23

Wob is my name, if you work it out;
I'm a fair creature fashioned for battle.
When I bend, and shoot a deadly shaft
from my stomach, I'm very eager
to send that evil as far away as I can.
When my lord (he thought up this torment)
releases my limbs, I become longer
and, bent upon slaughter, spit out
that deadly poison I swallowed before.
No man's parted easily from the object
I describe; if what flies from my stomach
strikes him, he pays for its poison
with his strength - speedy atonement for his life.
I'll serve no master when unstrung, only when
I'm cunningly notched. Now guess my name.

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24

I'm a strange creature with various voices:
I can bark like a dog, bleat like a goat,
honk like a goose, shriek like a hawk,
at times I mimic the ashen eagle,
the battle-bird's cry; the vulture's croak
trips off my tongue, and the mew of the seagull,
as I sit here, saucily. G suggests
my name, and AE, R and O assist it,
what these six characters clearly spell out.

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25

I'm a strange creature, for I satisfy women,
a service to the neighbors! No on suffers
at my hands except for my slayer.
I grow tall, erect in a bed,
I'm hairy underneath. From time to time
a good-looking girl, the doughty daughter
of some churl dares to hold me,
grips my russet skin, robs me of my head
and puts me in the pantry. At once that girl
with plaited hair who has confined me
remembers our meeting. Her eye moistens.

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26

An enemy ended my life, took away
my bodily strength; then he dipped me
in water and drew me out again,
and put me in the sun where I soon shed
all my hair. The knife's sharp edge
but into me once my blemishes had been scraped away;
fingers folded me and the bird's feather
often moved across my brown surface,
sprinkling useful drops; it swallowed the wood-dye
(part of the stream) and again traveled over me,
leaving black tracks. Then a man bound me,
he stretched skin over me an adorned me
with gold; thus I am enriched by the wondrous work
of smiths, wound about with shining metal.
Now my clasp and my red dye
and these glorious adornments bring fame far and wide
to the Protector of Men, and not to the pains of hell.
If the sons of men would make us of me
they would be safer and more sure of victory,
their hearts would be bolder, their mind more that ease,
their thoughts wiser; they would have more friends,
companions and kinsmen (true and honourable,
brave and kind) who would gladly increase
their honour and prosperity, and the heap
benefits upon them, holding them fast
in love's embraces. Ask what I am called,
of such use to men. My name is famous,
of service to men and sacred in itself.

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27

Favored by men, I am found far and wide,
taken from woods and the heights of the town,
from the downs and the dales. During each day
corbiculas carried me though the bright sky,
with care they brought me to a safe shelter.
Then men bathed me in a tub. Now I bind
and chasten them, at once throw a young man
to the ground, sometimes an old churl too.
He who struggles against my strength,
he who grapples with me, will find
he must hit the hard floor with his back
unless he foregoes such a foolish fight.
Robbed of this strength but not of his tongue,
he has no say over his mind
or his hands or his feet. Who knocks
young men stupid, and as his slaves bind them
in broad, waking daylight? Yes, ask me my name.

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28

Some acres of this middle-earth
are adorned with the hardest and the sharpest,
most bitter of man's fine belongings;
it is cut, threshed, couched, kilned,
mashed, strained, sparged, yeasted,
covered, racked, and carried far
to the doors of men. A quickening delight
lies in this treasure, lingers and lasts
for men who, from experience, indulge
their inclinations and don't rail against them;
and then, after death it begins to gab,
to gossip recklessly. Even clever people
must think carefully what this creature is.

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29

I saw a strange creature,
a bright ship of the air subtly adorned,
bearing away plunder between her horns,
fetching it home from a foray.
She wanted to build a bower in the stronghold,
construct it with cunning if she could do so.
Then a mighty creature appeared over the mountain
- his face is known to all dwellers on earth;
he seized the treasure and sent home the wanderer
against her will; she went westward,
vowing revenge, hastening forth.
Dust lifted to heaven; dew fell on the earth,
Night fled hence; and no one knew
Thereafter, where that creature went.

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30a

I'm surrounded by flames and sport with the wind,
I'm clothed in finery and the storm's great friend,
ready to travel, but troubled by fire,
a glade in full bloom and a burning flame;
friends often pass me from hand to hand,
and I'm kissed by ladies and courteous men.
When I raise myself, many people
bow before me; I bring
their happiness to full maturity.

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