THE TALE OF BALEN
41
And riding fleet as fire may glide
He found the dead lie side by side,
And wailed and rent his hair and cried,
'Who hath done this deed?' And Balen eyed
The strange thing loathfully, and said,
'The knight I slew, who found him fain
And keen to slay me: seeing him slain,
The maid I sought to save in vain,
Self-stricken, here lies dead.
'Sore grief was mine to see her die,
And for her true faith's sake shall I
Love, and with love of heart more high,
All women better till I die.'
'Alas,' the dwarf said, 'ill for thee
In evil hour this deed was done:
For now the quest shall be begun
Against thee, from the dawning sun
Even to the sunset sea.
