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Then BEAUTY bade to blow retreat,
And every soldier to retire:
And MERCY mild with speed to fet
Me, captive bound as prisoner.
"Madam," quoth I, "since that this day
Hath servèd you at all essays;
I yield to you without delay,
Here of the fortress, all the keys."
"And since that I have been the mark,
At whom you shot at with your eye;
Needs must you with your handiwork,
Or salve the sore or let me die."
[Three imitations of this famous poem will be found at pp. 128, 460, 651].
