Each one knows that for this lady
Raved the troubadour thenceforward;
Her alone he sang, and shortly
Château Blay no more could hold him;
And he hasten’d thence. At Cette
Took he ship, but on the ocean
He fell ill, and sick and dying
He arriv’d at Tripoli.
Here at length, on Melisanda
He, too, gazed with eyes all-loving,
Which that self-same hour were cover’d
By the darksome shades of death.
Singing his last song of love,
He expired before the feet
Of his lady Melisanda,
Margravine of Tripoli.[84]
Wonderful was the resemblance
In the fate of these two poets!
Save that in old age the former
His great pilgrimage commenced.
And Jehuda ben Halevy
At his mistress’ feet expired,
And his dying head, it rested
On Jerusalem’s dear knees.
3.
When the fight at Arabella
Had been won, great Alexander
Placed Darius’ land and people,
Court and harem, horses, women,
Elephants, and daric coins,
Crown and sceptre, golden lumber—
Placed them all inside his spacious
Macedonian pantaloons.
In the tent of great Darius,
Who himself had fled, because he
Fear’d he also might be placed there,
The young hero found a casket.