Launcelot and Gawaine, by Richard Hovey [1888]

LAUNCELOT AND GAWAINE

by

RICHARD HOVEY

Two women loved a poet. One was dark,
Luxuriant with the beauty of the south,
A heart of fire--and this one he forsook.
The other slender, tall, with wide gray eyes,
Who loved him with a still intensity
That made her heart a shrine--to her he clave,
And he was faithful to her to the end.
And when the poet died, a song was found
Which he had writ, of Launcelot and Gawaine;
And when the women read it, one cried out:
"Where got he Launcelot? Gawaine I know--
He drew that picture from a looking-glass--
Sleek, lying, treacherous, golden-tongued Gawaine!"
The other, smiling, murmured "Launcelot!"