The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt/The Glove and the Lions
THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS.
King Francis was a hearty king, and lov'd a royal sport,And one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;The nobles fill'd the benches, and the ladies in their pride,And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sigh'd:And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.
Ramp'd and roar'd the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws;With wallowing might and stifled roar they roll'd on one another,Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous ⟨smother⟩;The bloody ⟨foam above⟩ the bars came whisking though the air,Said Francis then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there."
De Lorge's love o'erheard the King, a beauteous lively dameWith smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which alway seem'd the same; She thought, the Count my lover is brave as brave can be;He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;I'll drop my glove to prove his love; great glory will be mine.
She dropp'd her glove to prove his love, then look'd at him and smil'd;He bow'd, and in a moment leap'd among the lions wild:The leap was quick, return was quick, he has regain'd the place,Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face."By God!" said Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he sat;"No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that."[1]
- ↑ "Lions' Street took its name from the building and courts wherein were kept the King's great and small lions. One day, whilst Francis the First amused himself with looking at a combat between his lions, a lady having let her glove drop, said to De Lorges, 'If you would have me believe that you love me as much as you swear you do, go and recover my glove.' De Lorges went down, took up the glove in the midst of these furious animals, returned, and threw it in the lady's face; and notwithstanding all the advances she made, and all the arts she used, would never see her afterwards."
Historical Essays upon Paris, translated from the French of M. de Saint Foix. (Lond. 1767.) Vol. i. p. 149. St. Foix quotes from Brantôme.