"To him sage Merlin shows, that well nigh all

  Those other monarchs that in France will reign,

  By murderous steel will see their people fall,

  Consumed by famine, or by fever slain;

  And that short joy, long sorrow, profit small,

  And boundless ill shall recompense their pain;

  Since vainly will the lily seek to shoot

  In the Italian fields its withered root.