Mark's were the mixed tribes of the west Of many a hue and strain,Gurth, with rank hair like yellow grass;And the Cornish fisher, Gorlias,And Halmer, come from his first mass, Lately baptized, a Dane.
But like one man in armour Those hundreds trod the field,From red Arabia to the TyneThe earth had heard that marching-line,Since the cry on the hill Capitoline, And the fall of the golden shield.
And the earth shook and the King stood still Under the greenwood bough,And the smoking cake lay at his feet And the blow was on his brow.
Then Alfred laughed out suddenly, Like the thunder in the spring,Till shook aloud the lintel-beams,And the squirrels stirred in dusty dreams,And the startled birds went up in streams, For the laughter of the King.
And the beasts of the earth and the birds looked down, In a wild solemnity,
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