What ill can I get from Melsenig? For a pure man's son I have held him;
Melsenig, the son of Melibar, 'tis he who hath plotted my downfall.
Melcroin, my playfellow Melcroin, the crime of thy act is yet deeper;
For ten thousand ingots of gold would not Cellach have stooped to betray thee.
Vain pelf hath allured thee, O Melcroin, the love of this world's fleeting pleasures,
For the guerdon of hell hast thou sold me, hast sold me, thy friend and thy brother!
All precious things that I had, my treasures, my sleek-coated horses,
Would I have given to Melcroin, to win him away from this treason!
Yet in high heaven above me, the great Son of Mary is speaking;
"Thou art forsaken on earth; but a welcome awaits thee in heaven."
FOOTNOTES:
[105] Compare "So the two brothers and their murdered man rode past fair Florence," in Keats' Isabella or the Pot of Basil, Stanza xxvii.