1. My noble, free, honorable minister
Love for you purely and nobly I harbor

2. Remaining steadfast through all tribulations
Shunning crooked paths trod by the craven

3. Unknowing is he of the times' caprice
Or the ways of hypocrisy to him foreign

4. Lofty manners and great kindness you possess
Spreading shade and goodness bountiful

5. No superiority can your critics claim
We but return your nobility, nothing more

6. In rhyming verse for you this necklace I wove
Forgive that my gift to you is so meager

7. Longer I'd hoped this poem's lines to spin
My awe of you curtails my art within

8. My noble, free, honorable minister
I give you back what fills my heart with joy

9. Proudly repeating it, these words I deploy
To the ignorant I explain your grace

10. Why linger in darkness? Come forth from your place!
Not office brought us close, nor formal tie

11. But virtues and merits I in you espy
Love for you purely and nobly I harbor