Poem by Richard Hovey

Lancelot and Gawaine

Two women loved a poet.
One was dark,
Luxuriant with the beauty of the south,
A heart of fire—and this one he forsook.
The other slender, tall, with wide gray eyes,
Who loved him with a still intensity
That made her heart a shrine—to her he clave,
And he was faithful to her to the end.
And when the poet died, a song was found
Which he had writ, of Launcelot and Gawaine;
And when the women read it, one cried out:
"Where got he Launcelot? Gawaine I know—
He drew that picture from a looking-glass—
Sleek, lying, treacherous, golden-tongued Gawaine!"
The other, smiling, murmured "Launcelot!"

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