While like a heedless child I played,

On a black snake my hand I laid.

A cry from every mouth will burst

And all the world will hold me curst,

Because I saw my high-souled son

Unkinged, unfathered, and undone;

“The king by power of love beguiled

Is weaker than a foolish child,

His own beloved son to make

An exile for a woman's sake.