The Duke of Gueldres' Wedding
Then up and spake an old grey lord,
And keen, keen was his eye :
"Your friends ye have already, Sire ;
Your foes ye'll have to buy."
Then up and spake that old grey lord,
And keen, keen, was his glance:
"Marry the girl to Gueldres, Sire,
And gain a friend to France!"
"O how shall I wed my own cousin
To a little Flemish lord?"
—"Nay ; Gueldres is a gallant duke
And girt with many a sword."
"What will the Duke of Limburg say
If such a deed be done ? "
—"Last night your foes were twain, my lord ;
To-day there'll be but one."
"Yet Limburg is a jealous man
And Gueldres quick and wroth."
—"To-morrow they'll hew each other down.
And you'll be quit of both!"
O blithe was Mary Harcourt
The blithest of them all.
When forth there stepped that old grey lord
Out of the Council-hall.
O sad was Mary Harcourt
And sorry was her face
When back there stepped that old grey lord
And left her in her place.
"O shall I leave my own country,
And shall I leave my kin?"
O strange will be the Flemish streets
My feet shall wander in!
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