"Her robe is stiff with drizly snow,
And rent her mantle grey;
None ever bade the wretched go
Upon his wedding-day."
Then to his lord he hied him straight,
Where round on silken seat
Sat many a courteous dame and knight.
And made obeisance meet,
"There is a stranger in your hall,
Who wears no common mien;
Hard were the heart, as flinty wall,
That would not take her in.
"A fairer dame in hall or bower
Mine eyes did ne'er behold;
Tho' shelter'd in no father's tower,
And turn'd out to the cold.
"Her face is like an early morn,
Dimm'd with the nightly dew;
Her skin is like the sheeted torn,
Her eyes are wat'ry blue.
"And tall and slender is her form,
Like willow o'er the brook;
But on her brow there broods a storm,
And restless is her look,
"And well her troubled motions shew
The tempest in her mind;
Like the unshelter'd sapling bough
Vex'd with the wintry wind.
"Her head droops on her ungirt breast,
And scatter'd is her hair;
Yet lady brac'd in courtly vest
Was never half so fair."
Reverse, and cold the turning blood
The bridegroom's cheek forsook:
He shook and stagger'd as he stood,
And falter'd as he spoke.
"So soft and fair I know a maid,
There is but only she;
A wretched man her love betrayed,
And wretched let him be."