Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/552

378 "The morn was wasted in the pathless grass, And long and lonesome was the wild to pass; But when the southern sun had warm'd the day, A youth came posting o'er the crossing way! His raiment decent, his complexion fair, And soft in graceful ringlets wav'd his hair. Then near approaching, Father, hail! he cried, And hail, my son, the rev'rend sire replied; Words follow'd words, from question answer flow'd, And talk of various kind deceiv'd the road, 'Till each with other pleas'd, and loth to part, While in their age they differ, join in heart. Thus stands an aged elm in ivy bound, Thus youthful ivy clasps an elm around. "Now sunk the sun; the closing hour of day, Came onward, mantled o'er with sober grey: Nature in silence bid the world repose; When near the road a stately palace rose; There by the moon thro' ranks of trees they pass, Whose verdure crown'd their sloping sides with grass: It chanc'd the noble master of the dome, Still made his house the wand'ring stranger's home. Yet still the kindness, from a thirst of praise, Prov'd the vain flourish of expensive ease. The pair arrive; the liv'ry'd servants wait; Their lord receives them at the pompous gate.