Joyfully springing there

He seiz’d the weapon, and with eager stroke

Hew’d at the chain; the force was dealt in vain,

For not as if through yielding air

Past the descending scymitar,

Its deaden’d way the heavy water broke;

Yet it bit deep. Again, with both his hands,

He wields the blade, and dealt a surer blow.

The baser metal yields

To that fine edge, and lo! the Glendoveer

Rises and snaps the half-sever’d links, and stands

Freed from his broken bands.