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But she with studied fond delays
Defers the blissful hour;
And loves to try his constancy,
And prove her maiden power.
That heart, she said, is lightly priz’d,
Which is too lightly won;
And long shall rue that easy maid,
Who yields her love too soon.
Lord Percy made a solemn feast
In Alnwick’s princely hall;
And there came lords, and there came knights,
His chiefs and barons all.
With wassail, mirth, and revelry,
The castle rung around:
Lord Percy call’d for song and harp,
And pipes of martial sound.
The minstrels of thy noble house,
All clad in robes of blue,
With silver crescents on their arms,
Attend in order due.
The great achievements of thy race
They sung: their high command:
“How valiant Manifred o’er the seas
“First led his northern band.
“Brave Galfred next to Normandy
“With venturous Rolla camc;
“And from his Norman castles won,
“Assum’d thc Percy name. (8)
“They sung, how in the conqueror’s fleet
“Lord William shipp’d his powers,
“And gain’d a fair young Saxon bride
“With all her lands and towers.(9)
“Then journeying to the Holy Land,
“There bravely fought and died;
“But first the silver crescent wan,
“Some Paynim Soldan’s pride.
“They sung how Agnes, beauteous heir,
“The queen’s own brother wed,
“Lord Joceline, sprung from Charlemagne,
“In princely Brabant bred. (10)
How he the Percy name reviv’d,
“And how his noble line,
“Still foremost in their country’s cause,
“With godlike ardour shine!”
