1. Ask the horses, the night patrols, the raids,
And their horsemen, the white and the bay,

2. About generous gifts, crafts, and nobility,
About pleasant praise, prose, verse, and books,

3. If the best paragon embodied all perfections,
Or if any ruler before him comprehended his virtues,

4. The greatest in esteem, and most noble in conduct,
The bravest, and most generous when palms meet palms,

5. The greatest in rule, magnanimous in ambition,
The firmest, yet gentlest in sympathy,

6. If such traits are manifest in him in deed,
Yet lacking in others, though partially concealed,

7. Sublime qualities in one person collected
As never were found in mankind before him.