Less worthy pupils sometimes loses

His head, a sense of where he is

When deafened by a sudden hiss.

He pales, he quakes, what he is there for

Well-nigh forgetting, with an effort

Declaims his lines and ... stops, unheard

By the derisive, jeering herd.

Our gallant knight, the huge Head finding

To be thus discomposed and dazed,

Flew hawk-like toward it, hand upraised

And in a heavy gauntlet cased,

And dealt the giant cheek a blinding

And crushing blow. There starts an echo

That carries o'er the gloomy plain.

The dewy grass is richly stained

With bloody foam. For nigh a second

The great Head sways and rocks, the, lo!-

It topples, hits the ground below

And starts to roll, the steel helm maing

A mighty clatter. But behold!-

A huge sword, glittering like gold,

A champion's sword, there's no mistaking

The look of it, lies where the Head

Lay 'fore its fall. The prince, elated,

Now seizes it, and the ill-fated

Head follows, bv the fierce wish led

To lop its ears and nose off. Routed

It lies before him, he's about to

Bring down the sword when a low plea,

A faint moan stops him. Startled, he

Lets his arm sink, his ire subsiding,

And ruth, not wrath his actions guiding.

As in a vale snow quickly thaws

When touched by midday's sunshine flaming,