(For D. P.)

Two tasks confront King Honour's daughter
Whom the unlearned malign insult;
One clear and luminous as water,
The other stiff and difficult.

Pity is laid upon the noble
So plain an obligation
Its fair performance is no trouble;
The puzzle's in the other one.

To be recognizant of merit
Peculiar to yourself; to be
Chivalric to your stronger spirit
Which gives the weak impunity.

This is the mental arabesque you
Must constantly contrive within
Or how shall you survive to rescue
The little wicked from their sin?