Page:Poems Greenwell.djvu/30

To wink and peep, as they did creep
 From out some evil dream;
And over each, on leaf and scroll,
 Strange words were writ, that seem'd to flit
Within each mask, and be to it
 Interpreter of soul:
"Sans Roi, sans Loi, sans Foi:" and there,
 Above the gate, a time-gnawed wreath
And legend mouldered half away.
 Spoke fair to passer underneath:
"Entres dans le Chateau des delices, et fais ce que boudray."

A fountain warbled, more it seemed
 In weariness than play;
The birds sang loud, but not as in
 The forest depths sing they;
Yet ringing clear above them all.
 Up rose the minstrel's lay,
As freshly shook as when the brook
 Sang with him on his way.

The soft air lifted it on high,
 Through pleasant bower and hall,
And ladies o'er the balcony
 Leant, holden in its thrall;
It floated in above the din
 That rose within the Court,—
The grey-beards paused above the cup,
 The gallants 'mid their sport;