E R DDLE
 
 \i
 
 r -T*$ ' a 
 
 4 
 
 The Riddle.
 
 THE 
 
 RIDDLE 
 
 A 
 
 Pleasant Pastoral Comedy 
 
 Adapted from The Wife of Bath's Tale 
 
 as it is set forth in the Works 
 
 of Master Geoffrey 
 
 CHA UCER 
 
 Presented at Otterspool on Mid- 
 summers Eve, 1895 
 
 Written by WALTER RALEIGH 
 
 LIVERPOOL 
 
 Printed by D. MARPLES & Co., for the Author 
 MDCCCXCV
 
 Of this Play four hundred copies 
 
 have been printed, of which this is 
 
 7 
 
 [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.}
 
 To the FIRST WOMAN. 
 
 Mother Eve, 
 
 Thou who didst not blench at 
 the first question propounded in the Garden 
 of Paradise, which was asked by the Devil 
 and answered by thee ; who gavest to man 
 of the Tree, not, as the dotage of certain 
 Rabbinical commentators doth allege, of 
 the twigs of the Hazel, bitt rather of the 
 fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and he did 
 eat; who, in the cool of the day, didst 
 hide thyself amongst the trees of the 
 gar den; to the memory of thy Speculative 
 Intrepidity, of thy Private and Familiar
 
 ii 
 
 Generosity, and of thy Dislike of Public 
 
 Fame, this RIDDLE, wherein the tastes of 
 
 thy numerous and worthy posterity of 
 
 daughters are investigated and unravelled, 
 
 is dedicated with remote veneration 
 
 by thy degenerate Great 
 
 Grandson, 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 Persons of the Comedy. 
 
 King ARTHUR 
 Sir PHARAMOND 
 Sir CALEPINE 
 Sir PARIDELL 
 
 King of Britain. 
 
 A Knight of King Arthur's Court. 
 
 His Friend. 
 
 A Knight newly returned from 
 
 Foreign Courts. 
 A fat thirsty Knight. 
 An affected foppish Knight. 
 
 Sir GOLIAS 
 
 Sir EGLAMOUR 
 
 The Court Jester. 
 
 A Herald, Knights, Attendants, Falconers, &c. 
 
 The QUEEN. 
 
 An Old Woman, afterwards transformed, in love with 
 
 Sir Pharamond. 
 Ladies of King Arthur's Court. 
 Fairies, Elves and other Good People.
 
 The SCENE A Woodland Glade. The 
 noise of horns is heard. Enter a 
 company of knights. Sir Calepine, 
 Sir Paridell, Sir Golias, Sir Egla- 
 mour, and others, with attendants, 
 and the Court Jester. 
 
 [The knights sit in a group 
 and drink; Calepine and 
 Paridell walk to and fro, 
 talking.} 
 Paridell. T S this the place ? 
 
 Calepine. It is, I know it well, 
 
 'Twas on this very spot, Sir Paridell, 
 The king gave judgment, in full audience, 
 That Pharamond should die. 
 Par. And what offence 
 
 Had he committed ? 
 Cal. Falsely he defamed 
 
 A noble lady ; all his heart inflamed 
 
 I
 
 With jealousy, they said, for she had turned 
 A cold ear to the love wherein he burned ; 
 Yet in the verdict none could find a flaw, 
 His head was forfeit by King Arthur's law. 
 
 Par. Lo, I have lived in courts of many a king 
 And many an emperor, but ne'er this thing 
 Have I beheld, that sentence should be passed, 
 And not made good ; far otherwise, as fast 
 As the king spake in wrath the fatal word 
 The headsman plied his axe. Who ever heard 
 Of execution thus remote ? You say 
 The Court was held a year ago to-day. 
 
 Col. When the king's doom was given, our gracious 
 
 Queen 
 
 And all her ladies knelt upon this green, 
 And begged the offender's life, that it should be 
 Delivered over to their lenity. 
 Their prayer was granted ; then the Queen uprose 
 The sentence of her ladies to disclose, 
 And respited his life a single year 
 If he would come to-day and answer here 
 The question that they set him ; which was this, 
 WHEREIN DO WOMEN FIND THEIR GREATEST BLISS? 
 This well might puzzle sages, 'twas beyond 
 The simple wit of poor Sir Pharamond.
 
 He left the court and wandered far afield, 
 
 To try if travel might fresh wisdom yield. 
 
 To-day must he give answer, and abide 
 
 The test that shall his death or life decide. 
 
 His tardiness bodes ill. 
 Golias. Ye argue long, 
 
 This noble company demands a song. 
 Knights. A song ! A song ! A song ! 
 Gol. A song of mirth ; 
 
 By 'r Lady, there is grief enough on earth. 
 
 M 
 
 The SONG 
 
 A Y he be hanged high on a tree, 
 
 Or fast bound to a post, 
 He that will not merry, merry be, 
 With a generous bowl and toast. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Let him be merry, merry, merry there, 
 And we will be merry, merry here, 
 For who can know 
 Where we may go 
 To be merry another year, 
 
 Brave boys, 
 To be merry another year.
 
 He that will not merry, merry be, 
 
 With a company of jolly boys, 
 May he be plagued with a scolding wife, 
 
 To confound him with her noise. 
 
 Chorus Let him be merry, &c. 
 
 Gol. Is not this better than your mumping talk ? 
 Cal. The birds cease singing when they see the hawk ; 
 
 Death hovers o'er us, poising on the wing, 
 
 Who knows where he may strike ? 
 Gol. Then drink and sing ! 
 
 Perchance Sir Pharamond has found a clue 
 
 To this same riddle, and will answer true. 
 
 So warm with wine your thoughts that grief 
 benumbs ; 
 
 Care killed a cat ! 
 Knights. See, where he comes ! He comes ! 
 
 [Enter Sir Pharamond, travel- 
 stained and weary. He 
 salutes the company.} 
 Cal. I dare not bid thee welcome, till I hear 
 
 How thou'rt attended, whether Hope or Fear 
 Hath shown thy wandering steps the homeward 
 
 way. 
 What issue had thy errand ? Quickly, say.
 
 Pharamond. Comfortless, hopeless. Though a man 
 
 should run 
 
 From the bright orient to the setting sun, 
 And put this question unto all he meets, 
 'Twere the most profitless of idle feats. 
 I have travelled from the great Mongolian plain 
 To where the Atlantic bounds the realm of Spain, 
 From Barbary to snow-bound Astrachan, 
 And here I end as wise as I began. 
 I have asked them, sage and simple, rich and 
 
 poor, 
 
 Christian and Turk, the Scythian and the Moor, 
 The Cham of Tartary and Prester John 
 What women most do set their hearts upon ; 
 And each made answer gladly, with a show 
 Of telling secrets he alone did know. 
 At first this pleased me well ; but, woe is me, 
 No pair of answers ever did " agree. 
 So here I stand, undone, discomfited, 
 Teasing my wits in vain to save my head. 
 Jester. Now, a plague on this game of joyous demands, 
 that sends a gentleman coursing round the world 
 like a greyhound after a swallow ! A man were 
 better to stay at home and teach ducks to quack 
 at his funeral.
 
 8 
 
 Par. Among so many answers could you find 
 
 None to bring hope of comfort to your mind ? 
 Your travelled observation should impart 
 Skill to descry the secrets of the heart. 
 
 Jester. Perchance Sir Knight of the sorrowful visage 
 has travelled much and seen little, like Sir Jonas 
 of old time in the belly of the whale, who spent 
 the greater part of his observation in observing 
 the pitiful fix he was in. 
 
 Cat. Some answer must be given ; let us unite 
 Our efforts, haply we may guess aright. 
 
 Phar. Lend me your wits, my own are at a stand. 
 What shall I say ? 
 
 1st Knight. Rich husbands ! 
 
 2nd Knight. Dresses ! 
 
 3rd Knight. Land ! 
 
 Jester. The ten commandments ! 
 
 Par. Praise for secrecy ! 
 
 Cat. A pound of truth and tons of flattery ! 
 
 Phar. Ah, miserable counsel ! Had ye said 
 
 That they desire a man should lose his head 
 For their fair sakes, 'twere nearer to the mark. 
 
 Eglamour. It seems to me ye all are in the dark ; 
 Will no one ask my counsel ?
 
 Phar. That will I. 
 
 Sir Eglamour, what think you ? 
 
 [Eglamour pauses, looks wise, 
 and struts about.} 
 
 Be not shy ! 
 My life stands on the hazard. 
 
 Egl. What think you ? 
 
 This cloak is not ill-cut the cap is new, 
 A fancy of my own, designed in France, 
 I think it has some little elegance. 
 
 Phar. May rust and moth consume thy trashy gear 
 
 For sporting thus with death ! What help is 
 here ? 
 
 Jester. Fie, fie, gaffer ! Take a lesson in civility from 
 King Caradoc, who, eating oysters with the Pope 
 on Ash Wednesday, when he came to a bad 
 oyster made no wry faces, but fell to praising 
 the shells. Curse not the feathers because the 
 flesh is rank ! Mew ! We can have no more of 
 the cat but her skin ! 
 
 Egl. Do you not take my meaning ? Force me not 
 To be immodest ! 
 
 Phar. Tell thy meaning, sot ! 
 
 Jester. The meaning of Sir Eglamour is like the
 
 10 
 
 quality of modesty, the more you talk of it, the 
 less there is. 'Tis ill looking for eggs in a 
 mare's nest ! 
 
 Egl. Give ear to me a moment, Sir Knight, and if 
 
 I may do it without presumption, I will tell you 
 how you may save your life. When the Queen 
 and all her ladies are set, and the question put 
 to you, as thus, What do women love best ? 
 or wherein do they take their chief delight ? or 
 what is their greatest pleasure ? then you, stand- 
 ing silent like a baffled man at a loss for an 
 answer, must ever gaze on me, and I, stepping 
 forward, will smile upon the Queen, as thus 
 [smiling fantastically'] , then will the Queen and all 
 her ladies blush to be caught thinking of me. 
 This long while it hath been matter for amaze- 
 ment how they dote on me. Then you still 
 gazing on me, and I still smiling, 
 
 Phar. Take thyself off, Sir Fop, or I shall beat thee 
 inordinately ! 
 
 Jester. Nay, gaffer, soft words ! What says the pro- 
 verb, Better kiss a fool than be troubled by him. 
 This poor Sir Eglamour is ambitious of my calling, 
 but he is young at the business. 
 
 Egl. Beating, say you ? 'Tis a tyrannical world
 
 II 
 
 when a man must be beaten for telling the truth 
 from motives of sheer human kindness. Beating, 
 forsooth ! Alack-a-daisy ! Never talk to me of 
 beating ! [Exit.] 
 
 Jester. This is a pleasant grave-yard, gaffer, but the 
 butterflies will not stay in it. 
 
 Phar. Now my sad remnant of existence wanes, 
 
 Grief blurs my thoughts, and deadly peril drains 
 My life-blood from me and confounds my sense, 
 Give aid, my friends, concoct some poor defence. 
 
 Cat. We have argued high and low, our bolt is shot ; 
 Some wizard only could untie this knot. 
 [To Go/.] My hawk sights quarry, he begins to 
 
 tower, 
 The Court holds sessions in another hour. 
 
 Go/. Some wizard ? Now there comes into my thought 
 One gleam of comfort for a wit distraught. 
 Do they not call this lawn the Fairies 1 glade ? 
 
 Cat. 'Tis so. The country yokels are afraid 
 
 To pass by night lest Mob and all her crew 
 Should capture them and pinch them black and 
 
 blue, 
 
 Or prison them in dungeons underground 
 For seven long years, then loose them to be 
 found
 
 12 
 
 Asleep where first their steps were led astray ; 
 And ever on the high Midsummer Day 
 The fairies hold full revel, in broad light, 
 Then, so the legend goes, the happy wight 
 Who sees them dance and breaks the magic ring, 
 May force their Queen to grant him anything 
 That he demands 
 
 Gol. Look up, the sun rides high ; 
 
 'Tis the Midsummer solstice, let us try 
 This last forlorn device ; if we give place, 
 Sir Pharamond may find the fairies' grace. 
 Come then, Sir Knights, away ! 
 
 Cat. These old wives' tales 
 
 Are broken reeds to trust, yet nought avails 
 That we can do. Then, Pharamond, good speed! 
 Heaven send the fairies help thee at thy need ! 
 
 [The Knights go out. 
 Pharamond stands lost in thought.] 
 
 Jester. Who was the first man, gaffer ? 
 
 Phar. Gad-fly, what dost thou here ? 
 
 Jester. Nothing, gaffer, but that I thought it was the 
 fashion to ask riddles. Do thou answer me, 'twill 
 get thee into the habit. I will begin with an 
 easy one, and draw thee to perfection by degrees. 
 Be not angry who was the first man ?
 
 13 
 
 Phar. Thou art a good priest, fool, and dost stablish 
 me in religious knowledge by way of shrift. 
 Was it not Adam? 
 
 Jester. I know not. Who was the first woman ? 
 
 Phar. Eve. 
 
 Jester. And what was Eve's straw hat made of? 
 There is a harder one, and so we lift the novice 
 higher. 
 
 Phar. Fool, thou troublest me. Leave me. 
 
 Jester. I feared thou would'st not know what Eve's 
 straw hat was made of. 'Tis a question in 
 millinery, wherein thou art no expert, for thou 
 knbwest neither what is on women's heads nor 
 what is in them. But thou must persevere, we 
 shall have thee a scholar ere long. Be not 
 surly, gaffer, let me help thee. 
 
 Phar. And how does thy miserable folly help my 
 foolish misery ? 
 
 Jester. Bravely, gaffer; if folly were not to lend a 
 hand to wisdom, neither of them two would 
 ever get to Tewkesbury. Now Eve's straw hat 
 was made of straw, take that from my folly ; 
 and what women do most desire is to be desired, 
 save that for thine own wisdom. For there is no 
 woman, be she young, be she fair, but doth
 
 14 
 
 secretly rejoice and chuck unto herself to be 
 gazed upon with the eye of affection. 
 Phar. [throwing himself on the grass] . Away, fool, away ! 
 Must thy babble be the last sound in my ears ? 
 Jester. Good-night, gaffer ! Sleep not too long, lest 
 the fairies clap an ass's head on thee and give 
 the Separator trouble to determine whether he is 
 cutting the body off a donkey or the head off 
 a man. 
 
 Here comes a candle to light thee to bed 
 And here comes a chopper to chop off the head 
 Of the last, last, last, last man. 
 
 [Exit.} 
 
 Enter the Old Woman, dishevelled and 
 hobbling. She takes her stand in 
 the middle of the lawn and turns 
 thrice, weaving magic circles with her 
 staff. She whistles; the fairies creep 
 out from the wood, at first one by one, 
 then in troops, and surround her. 
 
 A DANCE OF FAIRIES. 
 
 [The fairies vanish : Pharamond 
 approaches, and crosses the ring. 
 The Old Woman rises and 
 speaks}
 
 15 
 
 O. W. What seek'st thou here, Sir Knight, by whose 
 
 command 
 
 Com'st thou to break the peace of fairy land ? 
 This lawn is sacred to the Queen of Fays, 
 Take warning, save thy life, and go thy ways. 
 
 Phar. Fair speech, good mother, to a desperate man ! 
 My life is forfeit 'neath King Arthur's ban. 
 I've wandered o'er the world to pay my debt, 
 And paid it will be, ere the sun shall set. 
 Call back your goblins, let them do their worst. 
 
 O. W. Do thou give answer to my question first, 
 What brings thee here ? 
 
 Phar. It seems the common cry, 
 
 Answer my question, or at once you die. 
 Nay, lady, spare an overburdened mind, 
 I seek an answer that I cannot find 
 To no such easy question as you ask ; 
 Answer my question were the worthy task 
 For witches or for seers. 
 
 O. W. Propound it, son ! 
 
 fPhar. And idly cater for the elvish fun 
 
 Of all your dancing brood ! Here lies my way, 
 The headsman's axe yields better comfort. 
 
 O. W. Stay! 
 
 Truth dwelt in woodlands in the Age of Gold,
 
 i6 
 
 And years bring cunning with them ; trust the 
 
 old! 
 Three hundred springs have laughed upon the 
 
 leas, 
 
 Three hundred summers faded from the trees, 
 Since I was young with youth's simplicity. 
 Who knows but I may help thee ? tell it me. 
 
 (Phar. In very truth, good mother, here it is : 
 I am a dead man if I tell amiss 
 Before King Arthur' 1 's court, this day convened, 
 The answer to the riddle of a fiend 
 What thing is that which women most desire ? 
 To cut this knot have I dared flood and fire, 
 Through many a court and many a continent, 
 Yet still have I returned the way I went, 
 Unhelped by clown or courtier, fool or knave. 
 If, by thy magic art, thou now canst save 
 My name from smirch, my body from despite, 
 My lands and fees shall all be thine of right. 
 
 O. W. Plight me thy hand in mine, and promise me 
 That anything I may require of thee 
 Thou wilt perform it, be it in thy power, 
 And I will save thee ere another hour. 
 
 fphar. Here is my hand, I swear with all goodwill ! 
 
 0. W. Then I may boast, for all thy little skill,
 
 17 
 
 Thy life is safe, for I will stand thereby. 
 The Queen herself will say the same as I, 
 And not the proudest lady of her court 
 Will dare to contradict thy true report ; 
 The silence of them, widow, maid, and wife, 
 Shall prove my wisdom and preserve thy life. 
 Let us go forth at once, and in thine ear 
 The answer shall be told. Away with fear ! 
 
 [Exeunt.} 
 
 The Court of King Arthur enters , 
 preceded by Trumpeters, the King 
 and Queen, then the Ladies, then 
 the Knights. The King and Queen 
 are seated together, the Ladies of 
 the court as assessors on either side, 
 the Knights stand grouped on either 
 side. 
 
 Herald. OYEZ ! OYEZ ! OYEZ ! This is the Court of 
 King Arthur! 
 
 All wild beasts and creeping things are straitly 
 charged in the name of our Sovran Lord the 
 King to leave the court ! All birds, dragons, and 
 other flying things are forbidden, under pain of 
 death, to fly over the court while our liege Lord 
 and Lady are in session. Let all those persons
 
 i8 
 
 who have matters to transact before the court, 
 and all those who are bound over to appear this 
 day before our Sovran Lord the King or our 
 Sovran Lady the Queen, now stand forward ! 
 
 OYEZ ! OYEZ ! OYEZ ! This is the Court of 
 
 King A rthur ! 
 
 [Sir Pharamond enters and stands 
 before the King and Queen, facing 
 them: the Knights give way on 
 either hand.] 
 
 (Phar. My Sovran Lord, my Lady without peer, 
 Ye noble Dames that are assembled here, 
 Maidens, that in the seat of judgment sit 
 By virtue of your gentleness and wit, 
 Wives, whom true faith empowers, and widows, 
 
 ye 
 
 Whom old experience hath taught subtlety, 
 Lo, I have held my day ; and here I stand, 
 For judgment at my Sovran Lady's hand. 
 Herald. OYEZ ! OYEZ ! OYEZ ! Let all that are in 
 the Court keep silence, that the cause between 
 our Sovran Lady the Queen, and Sir Phara- 
 mond may be well and truly tried ! 
 Queen. Read him the question from the Rolls of State, 
 According to his answer is his fate.
 
 
 19 
 
 Herald [unrolls a large parchment and reads] . 
 
 THE COURT HEREBY DECREES THAT TWELVE 
 MONTHS HENCE 
 
 SIR Pharamond SHALL TELL IN AUDIENCE, 
 
 WHAT WOMEN MOST DO SET THEIR HEARTS UPON. 
 
 Give answer truly, for the year is gone. 
 (Phar. My gracious Lady, universally, 
 
 Women desire to have sovereignty, 
 
 And to be absolute in power above 
 
 The men they sway, in policy or love. 
 
 This is the utmost goal of their desire, 
 
 Take now my life, if justice do require. 
 Queen. How say you ladies, has he spoken true ? 
 
 What, none deny it ? You, nor you, nor you ? 
 
 Shall this blunt answer expiate his guilt ? 
 
 Or shall his life upon this place be spilt ? 
 1st Lady. Absolve him ! 
 2nd Lady. Quit him ! 
 
 3rd Lady. Spare the brazen-face ! 
 
 1st Lady. Pardon the ribald ! 
 2nd Lady. Pity! 
 
 3rd Lady. Mercy ! 
 
 All the Ladies. Grace! 
 
 Queen. You see, Sir Knight, these ladies plead for you, 
 
 Perchance (I know not) thou hast spoken true.
 
 20 
 
 Hovvbeit, we spare thy life. Let it be seen 
 Thou knowest to prize the mercy of thy Queen, 
 [kneeling] . My gracious Lady, in all lowliness, 
 Saved by thy puissance from my black distress, 
 I thank and praise thee [rising] ; now as free as 
 
 air 
 Joyful I take my leave. 
 
 Old Woman [coming forward with uplifted arm] . Hold, 
 stop him there ! 
 
 1st Lady. Who is this person ? 
 
 2nd Lady. Shocking! 
 
 3rd Lady. Turn her out ! 
 
 O. W. Justice, my liege ! 'Twas I that solved his 
 
 doubt. 
 
 The answer that the noble Court has heard 
 And has approved, I taught him, every word. 
 
 1st Lady. Odious old scrub ! 
 
 2nd Lady. Her ringer in the pie! 
 
 3rd Lady. Not nice ! 
 
 1st Lady. I wish we'd killed him ! 
 
 2nd Lady. So do I ! 
 
 3rd Lady. If some one doesn't stop her, I shall faint ! 
 
 O. W. Give ear, my lady Qtieen, to my complaint ! 
 This man has pledged to me his knightly oath 
 That whatsoe'er I ask him, nothing loth
 
 21 
 
 He will perform, if it be in his power. 
 And now before the Court, this very hour, 
 Sir Knight, I pray thee, take me for thy wife, 
 For well thou knowest I have saved thy life. 
 Do I speak true or false ? 
 
 (Phar. Alas ! too true ! 
 
 That was the promise that I gave to you 
 Fool that I am ! But, lady, think again, 
 Make me not thus the wretchedest of men. 
 For love of Heaven choose some new request, 
 Take all my goods, or what you fancy best 
 Of lands or tenements ; 'twere ill to save 
 A man from death and wed him to the grave. 
 
 O. W. My mind is fixed, not all that thou canst do 
 Will change it; judge, O Queen, betwixt us two! 
 Lo ! here I stand to vindicate my claim, 
 What does he see in me that he can blame ? 
 I saved his life, does that deserve his hate ? 
 Why am I deemed unworthy for his mate ? 
 If I have faults they may in time amend. 
 
 Queen. Sir Knight, give answer. 
 
 Herald. Let the Court attend ! 
 
 (Phar. O Queen, my word is passed, and I will keep 
 The hasty vow I made. Yet silly sheep
 
 22 
 
 Led to the slaughter are not asked to praise 
 The butcher's knife in many a glozing phrase. 
 Pardon my frankness, therefore, if I call 
 This beldame old and poor and therewithal 
 Ugly extremely, and of base degree. 
 Are these defects that may amended be ? 
 
 1st Lady. Here is a gentle wooer. 
 
 2nd Lady. Does he well 
 
 Rashly to cheapen what he cannot sell ? 
 
 3rd Lady. I like his plainness. 
 
 Herald. Silence in the Court ! 
 
 Qhar. My answer, therefore, lady Qtieen, is short, 
 
 I hate her, and will marry her to-day. 
 0. W. Now let me speak, O Queen, and I will say 
 
 My answer to the charges that he brings. 
 
 First, I am poor ; they say the poor man sings 
 
 Even when he meets with robbers on the road ; 
 
 And poverty hath ever been a goad 
 
 To honourable toil, a happy test 
 
 Whereby true friends are sifted from the rest ; 
 
 Yea, a man learns, by poverty brought low, 
 
 Not his friends only, but himself to know. 
 
 And is not merry poverty as good 
 
 As groaning 'neath a cumbrous livelihood ?
 
 23 
 
 But I am old, he saith ; should that not be 
 
 A reason for redoubled courtesy ? 
 
 Wisdom and prudence are the wealth of age, 
 
 If youth would but accept the heritage. 
 
 Once more, I am the object of his scorn 
 
 Because I fortune to be lowly born. 
 
 Ah, if a Nobleman could but devise 
 
 A means to leave his virtue when he dies 
 
 Tied up with all his titles and estate, 
 
 Then were nobility of higher rate ; 
 
 But if a noble's son do churlish deeds, 
 
 And flout the hand that helps him in his 
 
 needs, 
 
 He is not gentle, be he Duke or Earl, 
 For base ungrateful actions make a churl. 
 Lastly, I am displeasing to the eye, 
 But many excellences come thereby. 
 Think of the famous women of old time, 
 Shrined in true history or poet's rhyme, 
 For whom the direst wicked deeds were done, 
 They all were Queens of beauty, every one. 
 Whole empires have been shattered, cities sacked, 
 And busy valleys left a lifeless tract, 
 Millions of men have perished for the kiss 
 Of Cleopatra or S emir amis ;
 
 24 
 
 Yet still in beauty take ye childish joy, 
 Remembering Helen, but forgetting Troy. 
 Nay, look on me with gladness ; for this face 
 No towns shall burn, no champions court dis- 
 grace, 
 
 No kings shall agonize in mad despair, 
 Nor screams of widowed women rend the air. 
 Deceit here is not, what I am, I seem, 
 No painter's fantasy nor poet's dream : 
 The homely virtues, proper to the shade, 
 Dwell in this face and flourish undismayed. 
 Yet, lest this knight, O Queen, should curse his hap, 
 And taunt me that I caught him in a trap, 
 I can again employ the magic lore 
 Whereby I rescued him from death before. 
 Let him now choose if he will have his wife 
 Virtuous and faithful to him all her life, 
 But old and all uncomely ; or endowed 
 With matchless beauty, but of spirit proud 
 Peevish and fickle, skilled in every wile, 
 Charming and faithless, beautiful and vile. 
 For one of these two let him give his voice, 
 And he shall have the lady of his choice. 
 
 [Pharamond sighs, and falls 
 into a brown study.']
 
 25 
 
 Queen. The offer is a fair one. Come, Sir Knight. 
 
 fchar. O, gracious Queen, thou seest to what a plight 
 I am reduced ; full well may I repine, 
 Squalor or wickedness must needs be mine. 
 Yet since this lady hath by fate been sent 
 To be my succour and admonishment, 
 I fain would have my sentence make it plain 
 That all her lesson has not been in vain. 
 Lady, I will not choose ; but do protest 
 That I approve whiche'er to you seems best, 
 Do as you please, and I am satisfied. 
 
 O. W. Then do you utterly renounce your pride, 
 And here submit to my authority ? 
 
 fPhar. I do. 
 
 0. W '. Now have I gained the victory, 
 
 Look up, be joyful, cast away despair, 
 And you shall have a bride both good and fair. 
 [The Old Woman throws off her 
 cloak and appears transformed. 
 Sensation in the Court.'] 
 
 Queen. Take her, Sir Knight, and let this day be 
 
 spent 
 In feasting, revelry, and merriment. 
 
 King. Strike up the music ! Though we are a King, 
 Our rule is brief, and frail, and wavering,
 
 WTS'B LI3RARV 
 
 26 
 
 Compared with that great Sovranty whose sway 
 
 Hath been established in our Court to-day. 
 
 This night shall be resigned to mirth and sport, 
 
 In honour of the despots of our Court. 
 
 Ye Knights, take each your lady by the hand, 
 
 And modestly submit to her command. 
 
 In full procession to the palace go ; 
 
 Ourselves will lead you. Let the trumpets blow !