Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/71

Rh

The whole enwrought most craftily,

And great of price I warrant ye.

Then o’er her robe, and round each hem

Shone many a lustrous priceless gem.

Which flashed and glittered in the light

As heaven’s bright stars on frost-clear night.

Richesse around her girdlestead

Was gloriouswise encincturèd

Above her purple robe. A stone

Of magic power and virtue shone

Amidst thereof: the wight who bore

This stone need poisons fear no more,

For ’gainst all venoms which to man

Bear danger, ’twas a talisman,

And to a knight of gentle birth

Above Rome’s treasures was its worth.

The mordant, of a gem was made

That aching of the teeth allayed,

And whoso looked on it ere yet

He brake his morning’s fast, should get

Long years of faultless sight. Of gold

Without alloy was made the hold

That clasped it, while each single tooth

Was worth a bezant’s weight forsooth.

No silk or satin plaits she ware

To hold her wealth of yellow hair.

But golden circlets, thrice refined,

The glory of her head confined.

A subtle pen that scribe would own

Who could at full describe each stone

And gem unvalued, richly set

Within her gorgeous coronet,