Against Unworthy Praise

O heart, be at peace, becauseNor knave nor dolt can breakWhat's not for their applause,Being for a woman's sake.Enough if the work has seemed,So did she your strength renew,A dream that a lion had dreamedTill the wilderness cried aloud,A secret between you two,Between the proud and the proud.

What, still you would have their praise!But here's a haughtier text,The labyrinth of her daysThat her own strangeness perplexed;And how what her dreaming gaveEarned slander, ingratitude,

From self-same dolt and knave;Aye, and worse wrong than these,Yet she, singing upon her road,Half lion, half child, is at peace.