King Louis on his bridge is he,
He holds his daughter on his knee.

She asks a husband at his hand
That is not worth a rood of land.

" Give up your lover speedily,
Or you within the tower must lie! "

" Although I must the prison dree,
I will not change my love for thee.

" I will not change my lover fair,
Not for the mother that me bare.

" I will not change my true lover
For friends or for my father dear. "

" Now where are all my pages keen,
And where are all my serving men?

" My daughter must lie in the tower alway,
Where she shall never see the day. "

Seven long years are past and gone
And there has seen her never one.

At ending of the seventh year
Her father goes to visit her.

" My child, my child, how may you be? "
" O father, it fares ill with me.

" My feet are wasted in the mold,
The worms they gnaw my side so cold. "

" My child, change your love speedily
Or you must still in prison lie. "

" 'Tis better far the cold to dree
Than give my true love up for thee. "