Herod, I’ll not deny the truth. I have
Ere now spied on her faults and painted them
With heightened hue as you enhanced the virtues
That you discovered in her. Was the pride
Flaunted upon your mother and me whenever
She crossed our path, was this a ground for love?
As being of a loftier race she bore her
That never had awaked another thought
Within my mind than this—“Wherefore exists
The bulky book that tells the hero-deeds