110
THE LOWEST ROOM.
"Oh better then be slave or wife
Than fritter now blank life away:
Then night had holiness of night,
And day was sacred day.
Than fritter now blank life away:
Then night had holiness of night,
And day was sacred day.
"The princess laboured at her loom,
Mistress and handmaiden alike;
Beneath their needles grew the field
With warriors armed to strike.
Mistress and handmaiden alike;
Beneath their needles grew the field
With warriors armed to strike.
"Or, look again, dim Dian's face
Gleamed perfect through the attendant night;
Were such not better than those holes
Amid that waste of white?
Gleamed perfect through the attendant night;
Were such not better than those holes
Amid that waste of white?
"A shame it is, our aimless life;
I rather from my heart would feed
From silver dish in gilded stall
With wheat and wine the steed—
I rather from my heart would feed
From silver dish in gilded stall
With wheat and wine the steed—
"The faithful steed that bore my lord
In safety through the hostile land,
The faithful steed that arched his neck
To fondle with my hand."
In safety through the hostile land,
The faithful steed that arched his neck
To fondle with my hand."
Her needle erred; a moment's pause,
A moment's patience, all was well.
Then she: "But just suppose the horse,
Suppose the rider fell?
A moment's patience, all was well.
Then she: "But just suppose the horse,
Suppose the rider fell?
