On the single condition—I give you fair warning—

That you ride through the City, at noon, in the dress

That you wear in your bath of a morning!”

“Very well!” she replied. “Be it so! Though you drive a

Hard bargain, my lord,” said the Lady Godiva.

So she slipped off her gown, and her shoulders lay bare,

Gleaming white like the moon on Aonian fountains;

When about them she loosened her curtain of hair,

’Twas like Night coming over the mountains!

And she blushed, ’neath the veil of her wonderful tresses,