Page:The Vow of the Peacock.pdf/46

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I pray thee rise, it were more meet For me to kneel before thy feet, And vow to thee, as at a shrine, That heart, and hand, and sword, are thine." Hope kindled in Irene's eyes, Yet from her knee she would not rise, But spoke again: "If true art thou, Take thou the Peacock's sacred vow." Her listening maidens caught the word, And forth they brought the royal bird; The glorious bird, to whom is given The colour of an eastern heaven.

Of all the fowls that sweep the air None with the Peacock may compare; Not only for its loveliness, Though queens in vain might ask such dress,