"Then we shall see what we shall see," Answered the lady airily, Fobbing them off with such old saws As rarely fail to elicit roars Of laughter from the House and Bar, --As "Wait and see" and "Chi lo sa"; Then, sweetly added, "If you please, Hear our conditions, which are these. Who stays Eight days May go away the next. On no pretext Who stays more May or durst Go before The thirty-first. Who yet stays more Must outstay By one day His fifteenth score. Then or never: For who stays Further days Stays for ever,[3] "Further," said she, "if you will be My guests, this Paradise of mine Is at your service; what you see Of fun and beauty, flowers and wine, Is for your pleasure: also choose Amongst my ladies who are free (There're always plenty on the loose) Her who most charms you. Certainly You'll find them charming, trained to please, To move with grace, converse with ease, Well bred, well dressed, well read, well meant, In all ways sweetly competent:" Whereat squire Pons was "moult" content, And, plucking at his master's jacket, Said "Sir, let's stay and stand the racket." They said they'd stay a week; but when The week was up they stayed again; Indeed "_les plaisirs étaient tels_" Days seemed like hours in that hell: So says La Sale, who ought to know What pleasures seemed like years ago, Seeing he wrote "_Les quinze joies De Mariage_", but then, _ma foi_, They took their pleasures[4] otherwise Than husbands in that Paradise. It was an abbey of Thelème, Compounded with Arabian nights; Where every sort of pretty game And wit and wine and all delights Were shared with pretty, clever girls, Who never dreamed of being pals; But were what girls should always be, In manner prim, in fancy free. Thus was there hope for everyone, All were fastidious, none was prude, Which means flirtation's ticklish fun Supplanted dreary certitude. There was the best of everything, Of wine, of song, and all the rest, The best to drink, to kiss, to sing, And taste to know what is the best. A match for every mood: to please The thoughtful, cloisters; polished halls For dancers; vines and olive trees And rivers under ancient walls Flowing, for every heart's delight,-- Were there: and there was rest by day and mirth by night.