The Beggar Maid

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Title:     The Beggar Maid
Author: Alfred Lord Tennyson [More Titles by Tennyson]

Suggested probably by the fine ballad in Percy's _Reliques_, first series, book ii., ballad vi.

Her arms across her breast she laid;
She was more fair than words can say:
Bare-footed came the beggar maid
Before the king Cophetua.
In robe and crown the king stept down,
To meet and greet her on her way;
"It is no wonder," said the lords,
"She is more beautiful than day".

As shines the moon in clouded skies,
She in her poor attire was seen:
One praised her ancles, one her eyes,
One her dark hair and lovesome mien:
So sweet a face, such angel grace,
In all that land had never been:
Cophetua sware a royal oath:
"This beggar maid shall be my queen!"

[The end]
Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem: Beggar Maid

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