I closed and drew for my love's sake <br />That now is false to me, <br />And I slew the Reiver of Tarrant Moss <br />And set Dumeny free. <br /> <br />They have gone down, they have gone down, <br />They are standing all arow - <br />Twenty knights in the peat-water, <br />That never struck a blow! <br /> <br />Their armour shall not dull nor rust, <br />Their flesh shall not decay, <br />For Tarrant Moss holds them in trust, <br />Until the Judgment Day. <br /> <br />Their soul went from them in their youth, <br />Ah God, that mine had gone, <br />Whenas I leaned on my love's truth <br />And not on my sword alone! <br /> <br />Whenas I leaned on lad's belief <br />And not on my naked blade - <br />And I slew a thief, and an honest thief, <br />For the sake of a worthless maid. <br /> <br />They have laid the Reiver low in his place, <br />They have set me up on high, <br />But the twenty knights in the peat-water <br />Are luckier than I! <br /> <br />And ever they give me gold and praise <br />And ever I mourn my loss - <br />For I struck the blow for my false love's sake <br />And not for the Men of the Moss!<br /><br />Rudyard Kipling<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tarrant-moss/
