Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 1.pdf/74

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The man of close, hard-griping hand

Ne’er wins high seigniory or land,

For few finds he of loving friends

To spread his fame or work his ends.

The man who fain would draw around

Him friends, should let his hand abound

In gifts free-given—for thus he earns

Great love—and as the needle turns

Towards the pole, e’en so shall he

By gifts draw friends abundantly.

A purple garment, rich and cool,

Enwoven in the Mawmet school

Of Saracens did Largesse wear;

Left open ’twas, with careless care.

About the neck, for latterly

Unto a dame hard by her she

Had lent the mordant; passing well

I liked the fashion, made to tell

The snowy whiteness of her throat,

Which through thin gauze rapt eyes might note.

For knight, Dame Largesse did engage

A youth who claimed the lineage

Of Arthur, King of England; he

Bore Valour’s banner gloriously,

And eke the gonfanon; right great

And noble deeds by him relate

Minstrels, in courts of Counts and Kings,

And hitherward he a trophy brings

Fresh from a tourney which he lays

Before his mistress’s feet, whose praise

Through many a joust hath he maintained

In shattering helm and shield, and gained