Page:Early poems of William Morris.djvu/190

 (My lady! at that word no pang

Stopp'd all my blood.) "But tell me, John,

Is it quite true that pagans hang

So thick about the east, that on

"The eastern sea no Venice flag

Can fly unpaid for?" "True," I said,

"And in such way the miscreants drag

Christ's cross upon the ground, I dread

"That Constantine must fall this year."

Within my heart; "These things are small;

This is not small, that things outwear

I thought were made for ever, yea, all,

"All things go soon or late;" I said—

I saw the duke in court next day;

Just as before, his grand great head

Above his gold robes dreaming lay.

Only his face was paler; there

I saw his duchess sit by him;

And she—she was changed more; her hair

Before my eyes that used to swim,

And make me dizzy with great bliss

Once, when I used to watch her sit—

Her hair is bright still, yet it is

As though some dust were thrown on it.

Her eyes are shallower, as though

Some grey glass were behind; her brow

And cheeks the straining bones show through,

Are not so good for kissing now.