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18 “Then through my brain the thought did pass “Even as a flash of lightning there, “That there was something in her air “Which would not doom me to despair; “And on the thought my words broke forth, “All incoherent as they were— “Their eloquence was little worth, “But yet she listen’d—’tis enough— “Who listens once will listen twice; “Her heart, be sure, is not of ice, “And one refusal no rebuff.

“I loved, and was beloved again— “They tell me, Sire, you never knew “Those gentle frailties; if ’tis true, “I shorten all my joy or pain; “To you ’twould seem absurd as vain; “But all men are not born to reign, “Or o’er their passions, or as you “Thus o’er themselves and nations too.