CANTO III.

And said I that my limbs were old,

And said I that my blood was cold,

And that my kindly fire was fled,

And my poor wither’d heart was dead,

And that I might not sing of love;—

How could I, to the dearest theme

That ever warm’d a minstrel’s dream,

So foul, so false a recreant prove!

How could I name love’s very name,