Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 2.pdf/96

For in their spirits burneth bright
The fire of youth, and maketh light
And bold their hearts in such degree
As cometh nigh insanity.
And causeth every one of these
Hercules and Samson To deem himself a Hercules,
Samson or Roland; ’twixt the two
First named, if records tell us true,
Corporal strength was equal, for
Hercules, saith Solinus, more
Than seven feet was of height, and this
Exceeds all other men, ywis.
Labours immense he undertook,
And fearsome monsters twelve he strook
With death, and then a thirteenth tried
To overcome, but failed, and died
By Dejanira’s act, who sent
To him a shirt, in which was pent
A poisonous, deadly fire, and thus
This Hercules, so valorous
And strong, was utterly subdued
And conquered by vicissitude,
Beneath a woman’s treacherous hand.
And this she did because the brand
Of Love towards Iole had turned
The heart of him for whom she burned.
And Samson—he a half-score men
Had scorned in fight as they were ten
Ripe apples while his locks grew, but
By Delilah those locks were cut.

A sot am I these things to say,
Which you’ll repeat, when once away,