With trembling voice he spoke to her,
"I cannot, cannot meet,
In any joust where you are near,
Disaster and defeat.
Of yore I lived without a heart,
Kinsmen, or pedigree;
But all of these are mine, if thou
Hast any thought of me.
Give me some badge, if not that thou
Mayst recognize thy knight,
At least to deck him, give him strength,
And succor in the fight."
Celinda heard in jealous doubt;
For some, with envious art,
Had told her that fair Zaida still
Ruled o'er the warrior's heart.
She answered him in stormy rage:
"If in the joust thou dost engage
With such success as I desire,
And all thy broken oaths require,
Thou wilt not reach Sanlucar's square
So proud as when thou last wert there.
But there shalt meet, disconsolate,
Eyes bright with love and dark with hate.
God grant that in the deadly joust
The enemies that thou hast roused,
May hurl at thee the unparried dart
And pierce thee, liar, to the heart.
Thy corpse within thy mantle bound
May horses trail along the ground.
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