"So, Gui,
Know, Gui,
Ere thou go, Gui,
Gui they call the Red;
And thou'lt woo, Gui,
Humbly sue, Gui,
Lest Love strike thee dead.
"Now while thou flound'rest in yon pool,
Learn thou this wisdom of a Fool;
Cold water oft can passion cool
And fiery ardours slake;
Thus, sir, since water quencheth fire,
So let it soothe away thine ire.
Then--go seek thee garments drier
Lest a rheum thou take."
Sir Gui did gasp, and gasping, strove to curse,
Whereat he, gasping, did but gasp the worse,
Till, finding he could gasp, but nothing say,
He shook clenched fist and, gasping, strode away.
Then Joc'lyn turned and thus beheld Yolande,
Who trembling all and pale of cheek did stand.
"O Fool!" she sighed. "Poor Fool, what hast
thou done?"
Quoth he: "Yolande, to woo thee I've begun,
I better might have wooed, it is most true,
If other wooers had not wooed thee too."
"Nay, Fool!" she whispered. "O beware--beware!
Death--death for thee is in the very air.
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