"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 goes.' "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 She spake and King Leodogran rejoiced, 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 feli, 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, and 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. Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved And honor'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth And bring the Queen ;-and watch'd him from the gates: And Lancelot past away among the flowers, (For then was latter April) and re turn'd Among the flowers, in May, with Guin "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 at the marriage feast came in from Rome, The slowly-fading mistress of the world, Great lords, who claim'd the tribute as of yore. But Arthur spake, "Behold, for these have sworn To fight 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 old To drive the heathen from your Roman wall, No tribute will we pay:" so those great lords Drew back in wrath, and Arthur strove with Rome And Arthur and his knighthood for a space Were all one will, and thro' that strength the king Drew in the petty princedoms under him, Fought, and in twelve great battles 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 to Since 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, Until she let me fly discaged to sweep 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 A lusty youth, but poor, who often saw The splendor 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 childhood, caught And stay'd him, Climb not lest thou break thy neek, 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." |