I
The Princess sings:
I am the princess up in the tower And I dream the whole day thro'
Of a knight who shall come with a silver spear And a waving plume of blue.
I am the princess up in the tower, And I dream my dreams by day, But sometimes I wake, and my eyes are wet, When the dusk is deep and gray.
For the peasant lovers go by beneath, I hear them laugh and kiss, And I forget my day-dream knight, And long for a love like this.
II
The Minstrel sings:
I lie beside the princess' tower, So close she cannot see my face, And watch her dreaming all day long, And bending with a lily's grace.
Her cheeks are paler than the moon That sails along a sunny sky, And yet her silent mouth is red Where tender words and kisses lie.
I am a minstrel with a harp, For love of her my songs are sweet, And yet I dare not lift the voice That lies so far beneath her feet.
III
The Knight sings:
O princess cease your dreams awhile And look adown your tower's gray side --The princess gazes far away, Nor hears nor heeds the words I cried.
Perchance my heart was overbold, God made her dreams too pure to break, She sees the angels in the air Fly to and fro for Mary's sake.
Farewell, I mount and go my way, -- But oh her hair the sun sifts thro' --The tilts and tourneys wait my spear, I am the Knight of the Plume of Blue.
