Classic Poem

We have granted too much, ye ask for more;
I am not skill'd in your clerkly lore,
I scorn your logic; I had rather die
Than live like Hugo of Normandy;
I am a Norseman, frank and plain;
Ye must read the parchment over again. Eric:

Jarl Osric, twice we have read this scroll. Osric:

Thou hast read a part. Eric:

I have read the whole. Osric:

Aye, since I attached my signature! Eric:

Before and since! Rudolph.

Nay, of this be sure,
 Thou hast signed; in fairness now let it rest. Osric:

I had rather have sign'd upon Hugo's crest;
He has argued the question mouth to mouth
With the wordy lore of the subtle South;
Let him or any one of his band
Come and argue the question hand to hand.
With the aid of my battle-axe I will show
That a score of words are not worth one blow. Thurston:

To the devil with thee and thy battle-axe;
I would send the pair of ye back in your tracks,
With an answer that even to thy boorish brain
Would scarce need repetition again. Osric:

Thou Saxon slave to a milksop knight,
I will give thy body to raven and kite. Thurston:

Thou liest! I am a freeborn man,
And thy huge carcass—in cubit and span
Like the giant's of Gath—'neath Saxon steel,
Shall furnish the kites with a fatter meal. Osric:

Now, by Odin! Rudolph:

Jarl Osric, curb thy wrath;
Our names are sign'd, our words have gone forth. Hugo:

I blame thee. Thurston. Thurston:

And I, too, blame
Myself, since I follow a knight so tame! Osric:

The Saxon hound, he said I lied! Rudolph:

I pray thee, good Viking, be pacified. Osric:

Why do we grant the terms they ask?
To crush them all were an easy task. Dagobert:

That know'st thou not; if it come to war,
They are stronger, perhaps, than we bargain for. Eric:

Jarl Osric, thou may'st recall thy words—
Should we meet again. Osric:

Should we meet with swords,
Thou, too, may'st recall them to thy sorrow. Hugo:

Eric! we dally. Sir Count, good-morrow.