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II
BERTRAND DE BORN.
Warrior, and poet, in this balanced day'Twould puzzle thee, I doubt, Messire de Born,
To rouse up princes into chivalrous scorn
Of peace, with thy sirventes; and bid the array
Of battle gather proudly, with the lay
That stirred King Philip, like a stream i' the morn
Waking the sluggard; as thy speech outworn,
The moon of thy vocation fades away.
For 'tis a staid and reasonable time,
That debt would to morality endear;
Counting the clink of taxes, 'stead of rhyme:
But not the less doth passion's flame appear
Rending the earth, in many another clime,
From the old volcano, though it bursts not here.
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