As though they feared some wrong they’d done,
Then lovingly embraced anon,
And then once more did they retreat,
A-playing with their winsome feet
A thousand antic turns; so quaint
And strange they were, that I should paint
Their wonders feebly did I try
To show the supple subtlety
With which their lithe light bodies swayed;
Such tumult in my breast it made800
As never dance and song I deem
Had done before in sooth or dream.
V
Herein the Dreamer’s pen doth draw
The semblance of the dance he saw
And joined in, and relates how she,
Hight Courtesy, essays to be
His guide, and gently tells him who
Dance there, and all they say and do.
The salutation of Courtesy
I stood awhile, as one entranced.
To watch how wondrously they danced,810
Till tripped across the sward to me
A winsome dame, hight Courtesy.
Past power of words I found her fair,
Bewitching, bright, and debonair.
(May God preserve her life from harm)
At once with voice that seemed to charm
All fear away, she cried : Fair sir.
Wilt thou not deign thy foot to stir
In jocund dance?
