Grendel

John Nerber

Where is the pool where Grendel sinks
 The eyes ask of each other,
Where is the lake for the hero's plunge
 To save us from his mother?
In another land and far away
 The pool is dark and deep,
No hero now alive will ever

  That appointment keep.

Beyond the marsh a cave in a cliff
  Beyond the bluff a lake,
Who will take his sword down from the wall
  And his bed forsake?

The marsh is wide and treacherous
  The sand is quick beneath,
The mists form slowly in the night
  The hero's wreath.
Grendel is huge, the mark of Cain
  Upon his ugly brow,
Who from the sleeping table will arise
 And seek him now?

He who sleeps will never wake
  Grendel will take him,
Who among you will come near
 To wake him?
O who will give his lovely daughter
 For peace in our time,
Who will pacify the monster
 And forgive his crime.

All will give their nearest kin
 All will forgive, _
None will settle down in peace
 Though some will live.