“And none the less my thanks have thou,”
quoth I, “my Pearl, though yet I ask;
I should not try thy noble mind,
who chosen to Christ's chamber art.
I am but earth and dust a-while,
and thou so rich a royal rose,
and bidest by this blissful bank,
where life's delight may ne'er be lost.
Now, Lady,—simple wast thou once,—
I fain would ask thee but one thing;
and though I be wild as man of the woods,
let, ne'ertheless, my prayer avail!