LI.
But not the more for this the maid intends
To heal the mischief which her charms had wrought,
And for past ills to furnish glad amends
In that full bliss by pining lover sought.
To keep the king in play are all her ends,
His help by some device or fiction bought,
And having to her purpose taxed his daring,
To reassume as wont her haughty bearing.
LII.
An apparition bright and unforeseen,
She stood like Venus or Diana fair,
In solemn pageant, issuing on the scene
From out of shadowy wood or murky lair.
And “Peace be with you,” cried the youthful queen,
“And God preserve my honour in his care,
“Nor suffer that you blindly entertain
“Opinion of my fame so false and vain!”
LIII.
Not with such wonderment a mother eyes,
With such excessive bliss the son she mourned;
As dead, lamented still with tears and sighs,
Since the thinned files without her boy returned.
—Not such her rapture as the king’s surprise
And ecstasy of joy when he discerned
The lofty presence, cheeks of heavenly hue,
And lovely form which broke upon his view.
