Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up,
it unlocks many cool features!
- Leodogran, the King of Cameliard,
- Had one fair daughter, and none other child;
- And she was the fairest of all flesh on earth,
- Guinevere, and in her his one delight.
- For many a petty king ere Arthur came
- Ruled in this isle, and ever waging war
- Each upon other, wasted all the land;
- And still from time to time the heathen host
- Swarmed overseas, and harried what was left.
- And so there grew great tracts of wilderness,
- Wherein the beast was ever more and more,
- But man was less and less, till Arthur came.
- For first Aurelius lived and fought and died,
- And after him King Uther fought and died,
- But either failed to make the kingdom one.
- And after these King Arthur for a space,
- And through the puissance of his Table Round,
- Drew all their petty princedoms under him.
- Their king and head, and made a realm, and reigned.
- And thus the land of Cameliard was waste,
- Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein,
- And none or few to scare or chase the beast;
- So that wild dog, and wolf and boar and bear
- Came night and day, and rooted in the fields,
- And wallowed in the gardens of the King.
- And ever and anon the wolf would steal
- The children and devour, but now and then,
- Her own brood lost or dead, lent her fierce teat
- To human sucklings; and the children, housed
- In her foul den, there at their meat would growl,
- And mock their foster mother on four feet,
- Till, straightened, they grew up to wolf-like men,
- Worse than the wolves. And King Leodogran
- Groaned for the Roman legions here again,
- And Caesar's eagle: then his brother king,
- Urien, assailed him: last a heathen horde,
- Reddening the sun with smoke and earth with blood,
- And on the spike that split the mother's heart
- Spitting the child, brake on him, till, amazed,
- He knew not whither he should turn for aid.
- But—for he heard of Arthur newly crowned,
- Though not without an uproar made by those
- Who cried, 'He is not Uther's son'—the King
- Sent to him, saying, 'Arise, and help us thou!
- For here between the man and beast we die.'
- And Arthur yet had done no deed of arms,
- But heard the call, and came: and Guinevere
- Stood by the castle walls to watch him pass;
- But since he neither wore on helm or shield
- The golden symbol of his kinglihood,
- But rode a simple knight among his knights,
- And many of these in richer arms than he,
- She saw him not, or marked not, if she saw,
- One among many, though his face was bare.
- But Arthur, looking downward as he past,
- Felt the light of her eyes into his life
- Smite on the sudden, yet rode on, and pitched
- His tents beside the forest. Then he drave
- The heathen; after, slew the beast, and felled
- The forest, letting in the sun, and made
- Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight
- And so returned.
- For while he lingered there,
- A doubt that ever smouldered in the hearts
- Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm
- Flashed forth and into war: for most of these,
- Colleaguing with a score of petty kings,
- Made head against him, crying, 'Who is he
- That he should rule us? who hath proven him
- King Uther's son? for lo! we look at him,
- And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice,
- Are like to those of Uther whom we knew.
- This is the son of Gorlois, not the King;
- This is the son of Anton, not the King.'
- And Arthur, passing thence to battle, felt
- Travail, and throes and agonies of the life,
- Desiring to be joined with Guinevere;
- And thinking as he rode, 'Her father said
- That there between the man and beast they die.
- Shall I not lift her from this land of beasts
- Up to my throne, and side by side with me?
- What happiness to reign a lonely king,
- Vext—O ye stars that shudder over me,
- O earth that soundest hollow under me,
- Vext with waste dreams? for saving I be joined
- To her that is the fairest under heaven,
- I seem as nothing in the mighty world,
- And cannot will my will, nor work my work
- Wholly, nor make myself in mine own realm
- Victor and lord. But were I joined with her,
- Then might we live together as one life,
- And reigning with one will in everything
- Have power on this dark land to lighten it,
- And power on this dead world to make it live.'
- Thereafter—as he speaks who tells the tale—
- When Arthur reached a field-of-battle bright
- With pitched pavilions of his foe, the world
- Was all so clear about him, that he saw
- The smallest rock far on the faintest hill,
- And even in high day the morning star.
- So when the King had set his banner broad,
- At once from either side, with trumpet-blast,
- And shouts, and clarions shrilling unto blood,
- The long-lanced battle let their horses run.
- And now the Barons and the kings prevailed,
- And now the King, as here and there that war
- Went swaying; but the Powers who walk the world
- Made lightnings and great thunders over him,
- And dazed all eyes, till Arthur by main might,
- And mightier of his hands with every blow,
- And leading all his knighthood threw the kings
- Carados, Urien, Cradlemont of Wales,
- Claudias, and Clariance of Northumberland,
- The King Brandagoras of Latangor,
- With Anguisant of Erin, Morganore,
- And Lot of Orkney. Then, before a voice
- As dreadful as the shout of one who sees
- To one who sins, and deems himself alone
- And all the world asleep, they swerved and brake
- Flying, and Arthur called to stay the brands
- That hacked among the flyers, 'Ho! they yield!'
- So like a painted battle the war stood
- Silenced, the living quiet as the dead,
- And in the heart of Arthur joy was lord.
- He laughed upon his warrior whom he loved
- And honoured most. 'Thou dost not doubt me King,
- So well thine arm hath wrought for me today.'
- 'Sir and my liege,' he cried, 'the fire of God
- Descends upon thee in the battle-field:
- I know thee for my King!' Whereat the two,
- For each had warded either in the fight,
- Sware on the field of death a deathless love.
- And Arthur said, 'Man's word is God in man:
- Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death.'
- Then quickly from the foughten field he sent
- Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere,
- His new-made knights, to King Leodogran,
- Saying, 'If I in aught have served thee well,
- Give me thy daughter Guinevere to wife.'
- Whom when he heard, Leodogran in heart
- Debating—'How should I that am a king,
- However much he holp me at my need,
- Give my one daughter saving to a king,
- And a king's son?'—lifted his voice, and called
- A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom
- He trusted all things, and of him required
- His counsel: 'Knowest thou aught of Arthur's birth?'
- Then spake the hoary chamberlain and said,
- 'Sir King, there be but two old men that know:
- And each is twice as old as I; and one
- Is Merlin, the wise man that ever served
- King Uther through his magic art; and one
- Is Merlin's master (so they call him) Bleys,
- Who taught him magic, but the scholar ran
- Before the master, and so far, that Bleys,
- Laid magic by, and sat him down, and wrote
- All things and whatsoever Merlin did
- In one great annal-book, where after-years
- Will learn the secret of our Arthur's birth.'
- To whom the King Leodogran replied,
- 'O friend, had I been holpen half as well
- By this King Arthur as by thee today,
- Then beast and man had had their share of me:
- But summon here before us yet once more
- Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere.'
- Then, when they came before him, the King said,
- 'I have seen the cuckoo chased by lesser fowl,
- And reason in the chase: but wherefore now
- Do these your lords stir up the heat of war,
- Some calling Arthur born of Gorlois,
- Others of Anton? Tell me, ye yourselves,
- Hold ye this Arthur for King Uther's son?'
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment