82
THE HIGH HISTORY OF GOOD
Of light! How lucent is the fog!
How noble is my cabbage-head !
How sweetly fragrant is the bog!”
“God’s wounds!” (Sir Palamedes said),
“What have I done to earn this portion?
Must I, the clean knight born and bred,
Sup with this filthy toad-abortion
?”
Nathless he stayed with him awhile,
Lest by disdain his mental torsion
Slip back, or miss the serene smile
Should crown his quest ; for (as one saith)
The unknown may lurk within the vile.
So he who sought the Beauteous Breath,
Desired the Goodly Gift of Grace,
Went equal into life and death,
But oh! the foulness of his face!
Not here was anything of worth ;
He turned his back upon the place,
Sought the blue sky and the green earth,
Ay! and the lustral sea to cleanse
That filth that stank about his girth,