XXIV.
“Those days, whenas the wind was contrary,
“(Which fair for me, if foul for others blew)
“To others forty seemed, an hour to me;
“So upon speedy wings the moments flew.
“This while, we oftentimes held colloquy,
“When, to be given with solemn right and due,
“I promised him, and he to me, his hand,
“On his return, in wedlock’s holy band.
XXV.
“Bireno hardly from our court was gone,
“For such the name my faithful lover bore,
“When Friesland’s king, whose realm is from our own
“No further than this stream from Ocean’s shore,
“Designing to bestow me on his son,
“Arbantes hight (the monarch had no more),
“To Holland sent the worthiest of his land,
“Me of the count, my father, to demand.
XXVI.
“I without power to falsify that vow,
“Which to my gentle lover I had plight;
“Nor though I had the power, would Love allow
“Me so to play the ingrate, if I might,
“(The treaty, well on foot, to overthrow,
“And nigh concluded) with afflicted sprite,
“Cried to my father, I would rather shed
“My very life-bloody than in Friesland wed.
