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"ICH DIEN."


She spake to him—that woman with a brow
Most like a Queen's,—"With all the sovereignty
That I was born to, crown and sceptre,
My soul hath parted—Be thou true to me;
Fain had I brought thee all; but vassal's vow
And bended knee were but for One; e'en so,
All state I may not share, I would forego!"

"Once dwelt I in a Palace of Delight,
A lonely castle on enchanted seas;
Its hundred doors stood open day and night;
My thoughts gold-banded—honey-laden bees—
Passed to and fro for traffic; now all these
That I have slighted (like true friends of yore
Left for a stranger's smile), return no more.

"And I may not return to them, or stand
Among them as in olden days, when well
They stored my treasure-caverns, for my hand
Hath lost its wonted gesture; and the spell—
Through murmuring one name this chance befell—