Yes, he peeped round the screen, And he sniggered ("I ween, This is only a woman to flatter and kiss, A creature of vanity")--"Madam, what bliss To have witnessed such grace, such elegant----" here He could find no more words, and emotion 'twas clear Choked all further utterance, For never had such a dance Entered his thought. Such slippers! and ought He to mention the hose? All of silk to suppose? Had the muse from Olympus stepped down for a while Terpsichore style? Then quite without guile He bowed very low in his Frenchified way, In that courtly way, of a far-off day, And the laugh of the lady was merry and gay. And all throughout Europe the fame of her spread, Her frivolous tricks, and the foreigners said It was only a princess, a slave to her pride, True child of a mother a king had decried!-- So she thwarted and twisted the world to her whim As he misunderstood her--she outwitted him! Now one day it arose that King Philip of Spain, Incensed at her folly, essayed yet again To bring her to reason Just at his own season. So he sent his Ambassador, Spanish Mendoza, To this slippery Queen, with a message sub rosa. "Nay, by mine honour," she simpered. "How now, Is it truce to my jest? 'Tis a pity I trow. It were best to be merry!" She yawned very wide, And the Spaniard furtively smiled at her side. 'Twas only a woman to flatter and kiss, 'Twould be easy to manage a creature like this! Hard-headed and wise, sat the gaunt English Queen, Her words were unyielding, her purse it was mean-- The Spanish Ambassador Writhed like a matador! Beaten and wounded, he played to her vanity. --It was tucked out of sight--and with Spanish profanity He cursed all the Protestants under his breath, And committed them gently to burnings and death; But never an inch did Elizabeth yield, And the messenger saw that his mission was sealed, In that far-off day. And Elizabeth laughed In a curious way That was subtle with craft: "Under favour, you may Tell your master in Spain, that my country comes first. I am England, and English, its best and its worst. Tell him my subjects I love as my children, Tell him they thirst but their mouths will be filled when They meet him at sea. Give that greeting from me."