Not ever to be question'd any more truth- me In riddling triplets of old time, and said : Then from the castle gateway by the chasm Descending thro' the dismal night-a night In which the bounds of heaven and earth were lost Beheld, so high upon the dreary deeps It seem'd in heaven, a ship, the shape thereof stern sea fall, last, Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame: And down the wave and in the flame was borne A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet, Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried “ The King ! Here is an heir for Uther !” And the fringe strand, fire. child,” he said, peace seer Went thro' the strait and dreadful pass of death, "“Rain, rain, and sun ! a rainbow in the sky! A young man will be wiser by and by ; An old man's wit may wander ere he die. Rain, rain, and sun ! a rainbow on the lea! And truth is this to me, and that to thee; And truth or clothed or naked let it be. Rain, sun, and rain ! and the free blossom blows : Sun, rain, and sun ! and where is he who knows? From the great deep to the great deep he "So Merlin riddling anger'd me; but thou Fear not to give this King thine only child, Guinevere : so great bards of him will sing Hereafter ; and dark sayings from of old Ranging and ringing thro' the minds of men, And echo'd by old folk beside their fires For comfort after their wage-work is done, Speak of the King; and Merlin in our time Hath spoken also, not in jest, and sworn Tho' men may wound him that he will not die, But pass, again to come ; and then or now Utterly smite the heathen underfoot, Till these and all men hail him for their king.' She spake and King Leodogran re joiced, But musing ‘Shall I answer yea or nay?' Doubted, and drowsed, nodded and slept, and saw, Dreaming, a slope of land that ever grew, Field after field, up to a height, the peak Haze-hidden, and thereon a phantom king, Now looming, and now lost; and on the slope The sword rose, the hind fell, the herd was driven, Fire glimpsed ; and all the land from roof and rick, In drifts of smoke before a rolling wind, Stream'd to the peak, and mingled with the haze And made it thicker ; while the phantom king Sent out at times a voice; and here or there Stood, one who pointed toward the voice, the rest Slew on and burnt, crying, 'No king of ours, No son of Uther, and no king of ours;' Till with a wink his dream was changed, the haze Descended, and the solid earth became As nothing, but the King stood out in heaven, Crown'd. And Leodogran awoke, and sent Ulfius, and Brastias and Bedivere, Back to the court of Arthur answering yea. And Lancelot past away among the flowers, (For then was latter April) and return'd Among the flowers, in May, with Guine vere. To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint, Chief of the church in Britain, and before The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the King That morn was married, while in stainless white, The fair beginners of a nobler time, And glorying in their vows and him, his knights Stood round him, and rejoicing in his joy. Far shone the fields of May thro' open door, The sacred altar blossom'd white with May, The Sun of May descended on their King, They gazed on all earth’s beauty in their Queen, Roll'd incense, and there past along the hymns A voice as of the waters, while the two Sware at the shrine of Christ a deathless love : And Arthur said, “Behold, thy doom is mine. Let chance what will, I love thee to the death!' To whom the Queen replied with droop ing eyes, • King and my lord, I love thee to the death!' And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake, Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee, And all this Order of thy Table Round Fulfil the boundless purpose of their King Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved And honour'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth And bring the Queen ;-and watch'd him from the gates : The King is King, and ever wills the highest. Clang battleaxe, and clash brand ! Let the King reign. So Dubric said ; but when they left the shrine Great Lords from Rome before the portal stood, In scornful stillness gazing as they past; Then while they paced a city all on fire With sun and cloth of gold, the trumpets blew, And Arthur's knighthood sang before the King : • Blow, for our Sun is mighty in his May ! Blow, for our Sun is mightier day by day! Clang battleaxe, and clash brand ! Let the King reign. Blow trumpet, for the world is white with May ; Blow trumpet, the long night hath roll’d away! Blow thro' the living world—“Let the King reign." "The King will follow Christ, and we the King In whom high God hath breathed a secret thing. Fall battleaxe, and flash brand ! Let the King reign.' "Shall Rome or Heathen rule in Arthur's realm? Flash brand and lance, fall battleaxe upon helm, Fall battleaxe, and flash brand ! Let the King reign. So sang the knighthood, moving to their hall. There at the banquet those great Lords from Rome, The slowly-fading mistress of the world, Strode in, and claim'd their tribute as of yore. But Arthur spake, “Behold, for these have sworn To wage my wars, and worship me their King ; The old order changeth, yielding place to new ; And we that fight for our fair father Christ, Seeing that ye be grown too weak and ‘Strike for the King and live ! his knights have heard That God hath told the King a secret word. Fall battleaxe, and flash brand ! Let the King reign. old · Blow trumpet ! he will lift us from the dust. Blow trumpet ! live the strength and die the lust! Clang battleaxe, and clash brand ! Let the King reign. To drive the heathen from your Roman wall, No tribute will we pay : ' so those great lords Draw back in wrath, and Arthur strove with Rome. • Strike for the King and die ! and if thou diest, And Arthur and his knighthood for a space GARETH AND LYNETTE The last tall son of Lot and Bellicent, Pine away. a false knight Or evil king before my lance if lance Were mine to use–O senseless cataract, Bearing all down in thy precipitancyAnd yet thou art but swollen with cold snows And mine is living blood : thou dost His will, The Maker's, and not knowest, and I that know, Have strength and wit, in my good mother's hall Linger with vacillating obedience, Prison'd, and kept and coax'd and whistled toSince the good mother holds me still a child ! Good mother is bad mother unto me! A worse were better ; yet no worse would I. Heaven yield her for it, but in me put force To weary her ears with one continuous prayer, she let me fly discaged to sweep In ever-highering eagle-circles up To the great Sun of Glory, and thence swoop Down upon all things base, and dash them dead, A knight of Arthur, working out his will, To cleanse the world. Why, Gawain, when he came With Modred hither in the summertime, Ask'd me to tilt with him, the proven knight. Modred for want of worthier was the judge. Then I so shook him in the saddle, he said, “ Thou hast half prevail'd against me,” said so-heTho'Modred biting his thin lips was mute, For he is alway sullen : what care I ?' And Gareth went, and hovering round her chair Ask’d, “Mother, tho' ye count me still the child, Sweet mother, do ye love the child ?' She laugh'd, “Thou art but a wild-goose to question it.' * Then, mother, an ye love the child,' he said, 'Being a goose and rather tame than wild, Hear the child's story.' “Yea, my well beloved, An 'twere but of the goose and golden eggs.' Gold ? said I gold ?-ay then, why he, or she, Or whosoe'er it was, or half the world Had ventured-had the thing I spake of been Mere gold—but this was all of that true steel, Whereof they forged the brand Excalibur, And lightnings play'd about it in the storm, And all the little fowl were flurried at it, And there were cries and clashings in the nest, That sent him from his senses : let me go.' And Gareth answer'd her with kindling eyes, Nay, nay, good mother, but this egg of mine Was finer gold than any goose can lay ; For this an Eagle, a royal Eagle, laid Almost beyond eye-reach, on such a palm As glitters gilded in thy Book of Hours. And there was ever haunting round the palm A lusty youth, but poor, who often saw The splendour sparkling from aloft, and thought “An I could climb and lay my hand upon it, Then were I wealthier than a leash of kings.” But ever when he reach'd a hand to climb, One, that had loved him from his child. hood, caught And stay'd him, “Climb not lest thou break thy neck, I charge thee by my love,” and so the boy, Sweet mother, neither clomb, nor brake his neck, But brake his very heart in pining for it, And past away. Then Bellicent bemoan'd herself and said, *Hast thou no pity upon my loneliness? Lo, where thy father Lot beside the hearth Lies like a log, and all but smoulder'd out ! For ever since when traitor to the King He fought against him in the Barons' war, And Arthur gave him back his territory, His age hath slowly droopt, and now lies there A yet-warm corpse, and yet unburiable, No more ; nor sees, nor hears, nor speaks, nor knows. And both thy brethren are in Arthur's hall, Albeit neither loved with that full love I feel for thee, nor worthy such a love : Stay therefore thou ; red berries charm the bird, And thee, mine innocent, the jousts, the wars, Who never knewest finger-ache, nor pang Of wrench'd or broken limb-an often chance In those brain-stunning shocks, and tourney-falls, Frights to my heart ; but stay : follow the deer By these tall firs and our fast-falling burns; To whom the mother said, ‘True love, sweet son, had risk'd himself and climbid, And handed down the golden treasure to him.' And Gareth answer'd her with kindling eyes, |