Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/113

With thee, that thou shalt clean forego
Remembrance of thyself, nor know
What thing thou dost, but all alone
Shalt stand, as dumb as stock or stone
That hath no voice or power to move
Hand, foot, or eye—spell-bound by love.
At last, when thou long time hast been
Like man of wood or wax, I ween,2380
Then shalt thou sigh, and take thy breath
Long-drawn, as one might wake from death.
And wot ye well that ’tis thy fate,
As denizen of love’s estate,
To suffer bravely all such woe
As Love’s true soldiers needs must know.

The misery of absence And then remembering that ye are,
From her thou lov’st, aparted far,
Thy soul shall cry: “Oh! God, my lot
Is hard, that I myself may not2390
Go where she is: must then my heart
Alone come near her? why apart
Should we be thus condemned to dwell?
When I desire my feet as well
Should thither bear my heart, ah me!
Therein there would small profit be;
For if my heart hath not mine eyes
For guide, their vision nought I prize.
And should they then abide here? Nay,
But haste to see without delay2400
That precious sanctuary, which
The thought of doth mine heart make rich.
While my desire so fast doth go,
Myself I blame for dull and slow,