LXIX.
“The prudent Eleanour is this; a spray[15]
“Which will be grafted on thy happy tree.
“What of the fruitful stepchild shall I say,
“Who in succession next to her I see,
“Lucretia Borgia[16]? who, from day to day,
“Shall wax in beauty, virtue, chastity,
“And fortune, that like youthful plant will shoot,
“Which into yielding soil has struck its root.
LXX.
“As tin by silver, brass by gold, as Corn-
“Poppy beside the deeply-crimsoning rose,
“Willow by laurel evergreen, as shorn
“Of light, stained glass by gem that richly glows,
“—So by this dame I honour yet unborn,
“Each hitherto distinguished matron shows;
“For beauty and for prudence claiming place,
“And all praise-worthy excellence and grace.
LXXI.
“And above every other noble praise,
“Which shall distinguish her alive or dead,
“Is that by her shall be, through kingly ways,
“Her Hercules and other children led;
“Who thus the seeds of worth in early days,
“To bloom in council and in camp, will shed.
“For long wine’s savour lingers in the wood
“Of the new vessel, whether bad or good.
