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Poetic Edda
93. Fault for loving let no man find
Ever with any other;
Oft the wise are fettered, where fools go free,
By beauty that breeds desire.
Ever with any other;
Oft the wise are fettered, where fools go free,
By beauty that breeds desire.
94. Fault with another let no man find
For what touches many a man;
Wise men oft into witless fools
Are made by mighty love.
For what touches many a man;
Wise men oft into witless fools
Are made by mighty love.
95. The head alone knows what dwells near the heart,
A man knows his mind alone;
No sickness is worse to one who is wise
Than to lack the longed-for joy.
A man knows his mind alone;
No sickness is worse to one who is wise
Than to lack the longed-for joy.
96.[1] This found I myself, when I sat in the reeds,
And long my love awaited;
As my life the maiden wise I loved,
Yet her I never had.
And long my love awaited;
As my life the maiden wise I loved,
Yet her I never had.
97. Billing's daughter I found on her bed,
In slumber bright as the sun;
Empty appeared an earl's estate
Without that form so fair.
In slumber bright as the sun;
Empty appeared an earl's estate
Without that form so fair.
- ↑ Here begins the passage (stanzas 96-102) illustrating the falseness of woman by the story of Othin's unsuccessful love-affair with Billing's daughter. Of this person we know nothing beyond what is here told, but the story needs little comment.
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