The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 33, July, 1860 by Various
page 35 of 289 (12%)
page 35 of 289 (12%)
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Who made the harps of the minstrels ring?
Oh, well they might imagine it Hard for chivalry's ranks to show A knight more gallant to face a foe, With a firmer lance or a heavier blow, Than Richard I. Plantagenet; Or gayer withal: for he loved his joke, As well as he loved, with slashing stroke, The haughtiest helm to hack at: Wine or blood he laughingly poured; 'Twas a lightsome word or a heavy sword, As he found a foe or a festive board, With a skull or a joke to crack at. Yet some their candid belief avow, That, if Richard lived in England now, And his lot were only a common one, He ne'er had meddled with kings or states, But might have been a bruiser of pates And champion now of the "heavy weights,"-- A first-rate "Fighting Phenomenon." A vassal bound in peace and war To Richard I. was Vidomar,-- A noble as proud and needy As ever before that monarch bowed, But not so needy and not so proud As the monarch himself was greedy. |
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