Classic Poem

Then I advanced that I might stretch my hand
To reach the Rose I so much wished to have,
With which I hoped to accomplish my desire;
For surely, thought I, all these gentle words
That were so sweet, and our acquaintanceship
That seemed so pleasing, his deportment fair
Which he so artlessly seemed to affect,
Had given me good reason to have hope.
But it turned out quite otherwise for me.
More oft remains to do than fools suppose
Too cruel defense I found 'gainst my essay,
For, soon as I approached the Rose, the path
Was blocked by Danger (may some evil wolf
The villain strangle!), who had hid himself
Behind us in a corner, and had spied
And word for word recorded all our speech.
My tentatives were halted by his shout:
" Flee, varlet, flee! You trouble me too much!
The devils must have brought you back again!
The cursed fiends would share this ritual
And ere they left partake of everything.
No holy person e'er comes nigh this place.
God help me, but I'll nearly break your head! "
Fear arose, and thither Shame then sped
At hearing Danger yell, " Flee, varlet, flee. "
Nor did he stop at that; 'twas he that brought
The devils there and chased the saints away.
My God, how that miscreant cleared the place!
All three with one accord converged on me
And pushed my hands away with scolding rage

" You'll never have, " said they, " or more or less
Than you have had, for well you understand
How to put evil sense into the gift
Fair Welcome offered when you talked to him.
Gladly he offered you his benefits,
Provided you would use them honestly.
You have no care for the proprieties,
But take his simple offer in a sense
In which no man should take it, for it goes
Without declaring, and is understood,
That when an honest man his service gives
'Tis to be taken only in good guise
And as the promiser intended it.
Now tell us, Sir Deceiver, why you failed,
When well you understood the words he spoke,
To take them in the right and proper way.
Misunderstanding him so villainously
Must come from sheer stupidity, or you
Are pleased to play the part of foolish wit.
He never offered you the Rose for that
Would be a most disgraceful thing to do;
Nor should you ask it, or without request
Attempt to have it. How did you intend
That he should take the offer that you made
Of all you had? Did you by that design
To cozen him and so to steal the Rose?
You wished to serve him thus that you might trick
And fool him better, being all the while
His enemy in secret. Ne'er in book
Were written acts that more might grieve and harm
Now you must quit this place, and we'll not care
Although your heart should burst with suffering.
The demons must have forced you to return,
For well you still recall that other time
When you were chased away. Now get you gone;
Seek to supply your wants some other place.
She was not wise who entry gave such fool!
She did not know your thoughts — your purposed guile.
She ne'er had sought you out had she conceived
Such great disloyalty. Grossly misled
Fair Welcome was himself, defenseless one,
When privately he entertained you here.
He sought to serve you, but you do him harm.
My faith! Such gratitude a man receives
Who's barked at for his pains when to the land
He helps a drowning dog. Go seek your prey
Some other place! These precincts leave at once!
Go back downstairs politely, with good grace,
Or you will have no chance to count the steps;
For such a one may suddenly arrive
As, if he should but get you in his grasp,
Happening to come upon you face to face,
Would make you reckon badly your descent.
Presumptuous fool, void of all loyalty,
What has Fair Welcome ever done to you?
For what misdeed or fault have you so soon
Begun to hate him that you would betray
Him just as you have offered him your all?
Was it because he let you visit here?
Was it because he fooled us for your sake?
Was it because he offered you his dogs
And birds? I know he foolishly behaved,
And for his acts of now and once before,
If Heaven and Saint Faith will be our guards,
He will in such a prison cell be placed
That no man will have strength to enter there;
To such rings he'll be riveted that ne'er
On any day you'll see him walk abroad,
Now he's deceived and circumvented us.
By him we're all befooled. Woe worth the day
When you so freely came to see this youth! "
They seized him then and pummeled him so much
That as he fled they drove him to the tower
With imprecations vile, and shut him in,
Though not with irons or chains, with threefold locks
Fastened with threefold keys. No further care
They took at once, for they were in such haste;
But worse they promised him at the first chance they had.