From some old thief and son of Lucifer, {890} His forehead chapleted green with wreathy hop, Sunburned all over like an Aethiop. And when my Cotnar begins to operate And the tongue of the rogue to run at a proper rate, And our wine-skin, tight once, shows each flaccid dent, I shall drop in with--as if by accident-- “You never knew, then, how it all ended, What fortune good or bad attended The little lady your Queen befriended?” --And when that’s told me, what’s remaining? {900} This world’s too hard for my explaining. The same wise judge of matters equine Who still preferred some slim four-year-old To the big-boned stock of mighty Berold, And, for strong Cotnar, drank French weak wine, He also must be such a lady’s scorner! Smooth Jacob still robs homely Esau: Now up, now down, the world’s one seesaw. --So, I shall find out some snug corner Under a hedge, like Orson the wood-knight, {910} Turn myself round and bid the world goodnight; And sleep a sound sleep till the trumpet’s blowing Wakes me (unless priests cheat us laymen) To a world where will be no further throwing Pearls before swine that can’t value them. Amen! -- 845. I have seen: i.e., in imagination, while telling the story. 864. morion: a sort of helmet. 884. What age had Methusalem: the old man forgets his Bible. 906. He also must be such a lady’s scorner: he who is such a poor judge of horses and wines. 910. Orson the wood-knight (Fr. ‘ourson’, a small bear): twin-brother of Valentine, and son of Bellisant. The brothers were born in a wood near Orleans, and Orson was carried off by a bear, which suckled him with her cubs. When he grew up, he became the terror of France, and was called “The Wild Man of the Forest”. Ultimately he was reclaimed by his brother Valentine, overthrew the Green Knight, his rival in love, and married Fezon, daughter of the duke of Savary, in Aquitaine.--‘Romance of Valentine and Orson’ (15th cent.). Brewer’s ‘Reader’s Handbook’ and ‘Dictionary of Phrase and Fable’. The Last Ride Together. 1. I said--Then, dearest, since ‘tis so, Since now at length my fate I know, Since nothing all my love avails, Since all, my life seemed meant for, fails, Since this was written and needs must be-- My whole heart rises up to bless Your name in pride and thankfulness! Take back the hope you gave,--I claim Only a memory of the same, --And this beside, if you will not blame, Your leave for one more last ride with me.