I might have fired up, found me at my post,
Ardent from head to heel, nor feared catch cough.
Nay, had some other friend's ... say, daughter, tripped
Upstairs and tumbled flat and frank on me,
Bareheaded and barefooted, with loose hair
And garments all at large,—cried "Take me thus!
Duke So-and-So, the greatest man in Rome—
To escape his hand and heart have I broke bounds,
Traversed the town and reached you!"—Then, indeed,
The lady had not reached a man of ice!