That there should be a woman or two left
With even Isolt no longer possible.
A school of prudence would establish you
Among the many whose hearts have bled and healed.”
With even Isolt no longer possible.
A school of prudence would establish you
Among the many whose hearts have bled and healed.”
“Madam, you are a woman and a queen;
Wherefore a man, by force of courtesy,
Will hardly choose but listen. No doubt your words
Have a significance in their disguise;
Yet having none for me, they might be uttered
As well in a lost language found on ruins
As in our northern manner. If kings are kings
In your report, queens, I perceive, are queens,
And have their ways also.”
Wherefore a man, by force of courtesy,
Will hardly choose but listen. No doubt your words
Have a significance in their disguise;
Yet having none for me, they might be uttered
As well in a lost language found on ruins
As in our northern manner. If kings are kings
In your report, queens, I perceive, are queens,
And have their ways also.”
“A sort of queen.”
She laughed, showing her teeth and shining eyes,
And shrugged herself a little nearer to him,
Having not far to come: “But not the sort
That makes a noise where now there are so many.
If silly men pursue me and make songs
About me, it may be because they’ve heard
Some legend that I’m strange. I am not strange—
Not half so strange as you are.”
She laughed, showing her teeth and shining eyes,
And shrugged herself a little nearer to him,
Having not far to come: “But not the sort
That makes a noise where now there are so many.
If silly men pursue me and make songs
About me, it may be because they’ve heard
Some legend that I’m strange. I am not strange—
Not half so strange as you are.”
[ 32 ]
