Walter Scott

Romance of Dunois

IT was Dunois, the young and brave,	
  Was bound for Palestine,	
But first he made his orisons	
  Before St. Mary’s shrine:
“And grant, immortal queen of heaven,”
  Was still the soldier’s prayer,	
“That I may prove the bravest knight,	
  And love the fairest fair.”	
 
His oath of honor on the shrine	
  He graved it with his sword,
And followed to the holy land	
  The banner of his lord;	
Where, faithful to his noble vow,	
  His war-cry filled the air,	
“Be honored aye the bravest knight,
  Beloved the fairest fair.”	
 
They owed the conquest to his arm,	
  And then his liege-lord said,	
“The heart that has for honor beat,
  By bliss must be repaid,—
My daughter Isabel and thou	
  Shall be a wedded pair,	
For thou art bravest of the brave,	
  She fairest of the fair.”	
 
And then they bound the holy knot
  Before St. Mary’s shrine,	
That makes a paradise on earth,	
  If hearts and hands combine;	
And every lord and lady bright
  That were in chapel there,
Cried, “Honored be the bravest knight,
  Beloved the fairest fair!”