When Louis the king is Louis the man 'Tis Love the uncanonized rules at court With frolic and revel and moon-lit sport; Let the queen go sulk and the priests go hang -- Quick, comrade, your bow to the Montespan And a ready brain for a quick retort -- When Louis the king is Louis the man. When Louis the king is Louis of France It's showing of purple and flood of gold, And a steady hilt for your hand to hold; Grave ministers, scholars -- ambassadours. A stately feast and a decorous dance, A bow to the Montespan touched with cold -- When Louis the king is Louis of France. When Louis the king is Louis the priest The court is as sad as a dog in Lent; There's cardinal, bishop and penitent (And Montespan praying for audience). A funeral face at a dreary feast -- I' faith, but our knees are forever bent When Louis the king is Louis the priest. @3L'Envoi@1 True to the church is Louis the priest, True to France is Louis the king; Faithful ever, to praise him least, Though never at once to the selfsame thing, But true to himself and the Montespan Is Louis the man, is Louis the man! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GREAT RACE PASSES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS NIGHT AND DAY: 4 by ISAAC ROSENBERG WITH A GUITAR, TO JANE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE SOLITARY HEARTED by DAVID HARTLEY COLERIDGE A MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |