next thinks of the shortness of life, as he sings:--

"In mortal court his deeds are not unsung,
Such as a noble man mill show to men,
Till all doth flit away, both life and light."

A greater _scop_, looking at life through Saxon eyes, sings:--

"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."[6]

The _scop_ in the song called _The Wanderer (Exeter Book)_ tells how
fleeting are riches, friend, kinsman, maiden,--all the "earth-stead,"
and he also makes us think of Shakespeare's "insubstantial pageant
faded" which leaves "not a rack behind."

Another old song, also found in the _Exeter Book_, is the _Seafarer_.
We must imagine the _scop_ recalling vivid experiences to our early
ancestors with this song of the sea:--

"Hail flew in hard showers.
And nothing I heard
But the wrath of the waters,
The icy-cold way
At times the swan's song;
In the scream of the gannet
I sought for my joy,
In the moan of the sea whelp
For laughter of men,