"But if it were before the youthful knight A Christian was, I will not heed it, I;
For 'twixt a faithful and a paynim wight, I deem that nought avails the marriage-tie.
For this not vainly in the doubtful fight Should Constantine's fair son have risked to die;
Nor Charlemagne for this, our sovereign lord Will forfeit, I believe, his plighted word.