[1011]
The work was mean and shameful that they were made to do
For seven half years and over, —this is all too true,—
Until the young Lord Hartmut, when three wars were ended,
Had come again to his kingdom, and found the maids at work, and ill-befriended.
[1012]
To see again his loved one Hartmut deeply yearned;
But when he looked upon her, the truth he quickly learned,
That she good food and lodging of late had seldom tasted:
For choosing to live rightly, ’twas her reward to be with sorrow wasted.