Originally this was going to be La Belle Dame Sans Merci, but it didn't turn out that way. The third verse of the poem before is what I had in mind by the time I finished drawing the piece. I can't remember where I found it, but I believe it's medieval or Elizabethan in nature.

Sonnet

Love reigns serenely in my lady's eyes,
ennobling everything she looks upon;
towards her, when she passes, all men turn,
and he whom she salutes feels his heart fail;

so that, with drooping countenance, and pale,
he then because of his shortcomings sighs:
before her, pride retreats and anger flies:
assist me, ladies, now to honor her.

All sweetness, all humility of thought
stir in the heart of him who hears her speak;
and he who sees her first is blest indeed.

And when she smiles her beauty is such as
cannot be told, nor in the memory held,
so fair, so new a miracle it is.

by Dante Alighieri