Like a swimmer stripped where the Solway moves!
And ever, riding, we chanted a song,
Challenging Fortune, loud and long,
“From Belton Castle to Solway side,
Strive as you may, is three days’ ride!”
She slept for an hour, wrapped in my cloak,
And I watched her till the morning broke;
The second day—and a harsher land,
And gray bare hills on either hand;
A surly land and a sullen folk,