Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 2.pdf/39

Children bad messengers Employ not children, great the chance
Will be they fail through ignorance,
And sorry messengers they make
Through trifling, idling, or mistake.7890
They oft miscarry, or will show
Your missive wheresoe’er they go,
And bungle, not through lack of sense
Alone, but inexperience.
You must with great discretion choose
Your messengers, unless you’d lose
The fruit of all your pains, and see
Your intrigue common property.

These gaolers you will surely find
Of heart so piteous, sweet and kind,7900
That, once your money they have ta’en,
Your faithful friends will they remain.
E’en as the sparrow-hawk is sure
To flutter to the well-known lure
At morn, or eve, or any hour,
So surely gifts possess the power
The surliest gaolers to appease
So far, that freely as they please
May lovers use them; once made tame
With vails, their service they may claim.7910

But should they hold their heads so high
That they regard disdainfully
Your sighs and tears, your gifts and prayers,
Seeing through all your best-laid snares.
And treat your courtesy with lewd
Unseemly acts and voicing rude,