Then men would come from the ends of the earth Whom the King sat welcoming,And men would go to the ends of the earth Because of the word of the King.
For folk came in to Alfred's face Whose javelins had been hurledOn monsters that make boil the sea,Crakens and coils of mystery,Or thrust in ancient snows that be The white hair of the world.
And some had knocked at the northern gates Of the ultimate icy floor,Where the fish freeze and the foam turns blackAnd the wide world narrows to a track,And the other sea at the world's back Cries through a closed door.
And men went forth from Alfred's face, Even great gift-bearing lords,Not to Rome only, but more bold,Out to the high hot courts of old,Of negroes clad in cloth of gold, Silence, and crooked swords.
Scrawled screens and secret gardens And insect-laden skies —
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