[HERNANI, Act I., March, 1830.] <br /> <br /> <br />What business brings you here, young cavaliers? <br />Men like the Cid, the knights of bygone years, <br />Rode out the battle of the weak to wage, <br />Protecting beauty and revering age. <br />Their armor sat on them, strong men as true, <br />Much lighter than your velvet rests on you. <br />Not in a lady's room by stealth they knelt; <br />In church, by day, they spoke the love they felt. <br />They kept their houses' honor bright from rust, <br />They told no secret, and betrayed no trust; <br />And if a wife they wanted, bold and gay, <br />With lance, or axe, or falchion, and by day, <br />Bravely they won and wore her. As for those <br />Who slip through streets when honest men repose, <br />With eyes turned to the ground, and in night's shade <br />The rights of trusting husbands to invade; <br />I say the Cid would force such knaves as these <br />To beg the city's pardon on their knees; <br />And with the flat of his all-conquering blade <br />Their rank usurped and 'scutcheon would degrade. <br />Thus would the men of former times, I say, <br />Treat the degenerate minions of to-day.<br /><br />Victor Marie Hugo<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-degenerate-gallants/
