Page:Early poems of William Morris.djvu/153



And if you meet the Canon of Chimay,

As going to Ortaise you well may do,

Greet him from John of Castel Neuf, and say,

All that I tell you, for all this is true.

This Geffray Teste Noire was a Gascon thief,

Who, under shadow of the English name,

Pilled all such towns and countries as were lief

To King Charles and St. Dennis; thought it blame

If anything escaped him; so my lord,

The Duke of Berry, sent Sir John Bonne Lance,

And other knights, good players with the sword,

To check this thief, and give the land a chance.

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