Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/93

The Dreamer pierced by Beauty He knows to handle; straightway flew
The shaft therefrom, which right well knew1770
Its deadly billet; through my heart
Quick pierced the golden-headed dart,
And on my forehead ice-cold sweat
Burst forth, and ne’er can I forget
How ’neath my fur-trimmed doublet spread
Chill shuddering as my life were sped.
Pierced by the fatal shaft I fell
Supine to earth; ah! woe to tell
How sudden faintness seemed to seize
My heart, the while I felt my knees1780
Give way, and when from out the swoon
I woke, felt feeble as the moon
Looketh in glare of day. I thought
To see blood flow, but when I sought
The wounded spot ’twas clear and dry.
Thereto both hands did I apply.
And strove, ’mid sighs and groans, to draw
The shaft from out the cruel flaw:
But, misery me, although the bole
I drew from out the fatal hole,1790
The iron barb, which Beauty hight,
Remained therein, fast-fixed, and tight
Past power to move it, yet no gout
Of crimson life-blood welled thereout.

Ah! then what anguish and distress.
What grief twice told, what heaviness,
I suffered: reft of speech I stood
Distrustful where or how I could
Some leech discover, or what herb
To seek that might or cure or curb1800
My grievous hurt.