It shall brighten once more in the field of its fame,
But it is not for her I would now win a name.”
The knight rode away, and the lady she sigh’d,
When he featly as ever his steed would bestride,
While the mould from the banner he shook to the wind
Seemed to fall on the breast he left aching behind.
But the rust on his glaive and the rust in his heart
Had corroded too long and too deep to depart,
And the brand only brightened in honor once more,
When the heart ceased to beat on the fray-trampled shore.