A Fragment of a Song, on the Lord of Derwentwater.
Reading edition
The king has written a broad letter, And seal’d it up with gold; And sent it to the lord of Derwentwater, To read it if he would. He sent it with no boy, no boy, Nor yet with e’er a slave; But he sent it with as good a knight, As e’er a king could have. When he read the three first lines, He then began to smile; And when he read the three next lines, The tears began to sile.