Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/71

The whole enwrought most craftily,
And great of price I warrant ye.
Then o’er her robe, and round each hem
Shone many a lustrous priceless gem.
Which flashed and glittered in the light
As heaven’s bright stars on frost-clear night.

The gems worn by Dame Richesse Richesse around her girdlestead
Was gloriouswise encincturèd
Above her purple robe. A stone
Of magic power and virtue shone1110
Amidst thereof: the wight who bore
This stone need poisons fear no more,
For ’gainst all venoms which to man
Bear danger, ’twas a talisman,
And to a knight of gentle birth
Above Rome’s treasures was its worth.
The mordant, of a gem was made
That aching of the teeth allayed,
And whoso looked on it ere yet
He brake his morning’s fast, should get1120
Long years of faultless sight. Of gold
Without alloy was made the hold
That clasped it, while each single tooth
Was worth a bezant’s weight forsooth.
No silk or satin plaits she ware
To hold her wealth of yellow hair.
But golden circlets, thrice refined,
The glory of her head confined.
A subtle pen that scribe would own
Who could at full describe each stone1130
And gem unvalued, richly set
Within her gorgeous coronet,