I think it were a better thing
Than murdered friend and marriage-ring
Forced on my life together.
"Wail shook Earl Walter's house;
His true wife shed no tear;
She lay upon her bed as mute
As the earl did on his bier:
Till—' Ride, ride fast,' she said at last,
' And bring the avengëd's son anear!
Ride fast, ride free, as a dart can flee,