Because men dare not live with men alone,

But always with another fairy-tale.

Religion is a charming girl, I say;

But over this poor threshold will not pass,

Because I can’t unveil her, and alas;

The bridal gift I can’t afford to pay.”

Nor could this poet have had much reverence for the religion of Islam when he wrote:

“Where is the valiance of the folk who sing

These valiant stories of the world to come?

Which they describe, forsooth, as if it swung