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, straighten'd they grew up to wolf-like (men,

Worse than the wolves. And King Leodogran Groan'd for the Roman legions here again, And Cæsar's eagle: then his brother king, Rience, assail'd 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
(crown'd,
Tho' 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 mark'd not, if she saw,
One among many, tho' 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 pitch'd
His tents beside the forest. And he drave
The heathen, and he slew the beast, and fell'd
The forest, and let in the sun, and made
Broad pathways for the hunter and the
(knight;

And so return'd.

|

For while he linger'd there, A doubt that ever smoulder'd in the hearts Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm Flash'd forth and into war: for most of these 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 Gorloïs, 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 join'd 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 lands 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
(join'd

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 join'd 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."

And Arthur from the field of battle 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, Leodagran 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 (call'd

He trusted all things, and of him required A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom His counsel: Knowest thou aught of Ar(thur'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 thro' 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

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 Gorloïs,
Others of Anton? Tell me, ye yourselves,
Hold ye this Arthur for King Uther's son?"
Aud Ulfius and Brastias answer'd, "Ay."
Then Bedivere, the first of all his knights
Knighted by Arthur at his crowning,spake-
For bold in heart and act and word was he,
Whenever slander breathed against the
(king

Sir, there be many rumours on this head: For there be thoss who hate him in their (hearts,

Call him baseborn, and since his ways are (sweet,

And theirs are bestial, hold him less than (man:/

And there be those who deem him more than (man,

And dream he dropt from heaven: but my [belief

In all this matter so ye care to learn Sir, for ye know that in King Uther's time The prince and warrior Gorloïs, he that held Tintagil castle by the Cornish sea,

Was wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne : And daughters had she borne him, one (whereof,

Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent,
Hath ever like a loyal sister cleaved
To Arthur, but a son she had not borne.
And Uther cast upon her eyes of love:
But she, a stainless wife to Gorloïs,
So loathed the bright dishonour of his love,
That Gorloïs and King Uther went to war:
And overthrown was Gorloïs and slain.
Then Uther in his wrath and heat besieged
Ygerne within Tintagil, where her men,
Seeing the mighty swarm about their walls,
Left her and fled, and Uther enter'd in,
And there was none to call to but himself.
So: compass'd by the power of the king,
Enforced she was to wed him in her tears,

Moaning and wailing for an heir to rule
After him, lest the realm should go to wrack.
And that same night, the night of the new
(year,

By reason of the bitterness and grief
That vext his mother, all before his time
Was Arthur born, and all as soon as born
Deliver'd at a secret postern-gate
To Merlin, to be holden far apart
Until his hour should come; because the
(lords

Of that fierce day were as the lords of this, Wild beasts, and surely would have torn the (child

Piecemeal among them, had they known; (for each

But sought to rule for his own self and hand,
And many hated Uther for the sake
Of Gorloïs. Wherefore Merlin took the child,
And gave him to Sir Anton, an old knight
And ancient friend of Uther; and his wife
Nursed the young prince, and rear'd him
(with her own;

And no man knew. And ever since the lords Have foughten like wild beasts among (themselves,

So that the realm has gone to wrack: but (now,

This year, when Merlin (for his hour had come)

Brought Arthur forth, and set him in the (hall,

Proclaiming, Here is Uther's heir, your (king,"

A hundred voices cried, "Away with him!
No king of ours! a son of Gorloïs he,
Or else the child of Anton, and no king,
Or else baseborn." Yet Merlin thro' his craft,
And while the people clamour'd for a king,
Had Arthur crown'd; but after, the great
(lords

Banded, and so brake out in open war."

Then while the king debated with himself If Arthur were the child of shamefulness, Or born the son of Gorloïs, after death, Or Uther's son, and born before his time, Or whether there were truth in anything Said by these three, there came to Cameliard, With Gawain and young Modred, her two (sons,

Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent,

Made feast for, saying, as they sat at meat,

this

"A doubtful throne is ice on summer seasYe come from Arthur's court: think ye (king So few his knights, however brave they be-Hath body enow to beat his foemen down!"

"O king," she cried,,,and I will tell thee: (few,

Few, but all brave, all of one mind with him; For I was near him when the savage yells Of Uther's peerage died, and Arthur sat Crown'd on the daïs, and his warriors cried, 'Be thou the king, and we will work thy will Who love thee.' Then the king in low deep (tones,

And simple words of great authority, Bound them by so strait vows to his own (self,

That when they rose, knighted from kneel(ing, some

Were pale as at the passing of a ghost, Some flush'd, and others dazed, as one who (wakes

Half-blinded at the coming of a light.

"

But when he spake and cheer'd his Table (Round

With large divine and comfortable words Beyond my tongue to tell thee - I beheld From eye to eye thro' all their Order flash A momentary likeness of the king:

And ere it left their faces, thro' the cross And those around it and the Crucified, Down from the casement over Arthur, smote Flame-colour, vert and azure, in three rays, One falling upon each of three fair queens, Who stood in silence near his throne, the

(friends

Of Arthur, gazing on him, tall, with bright Sweet faces, who will help him at his need. "And there I saw mage Merlin, whose (vast wit

And hundred winters are but as the hands Of loyal vassals toiling for their liege.

And near him stood the Lady of the Lake, Who knows a subtler magic than his ownClothed in white samite, mystic,wonderful. She gave the king his huge cross-hilted (sword,

Whereby to drive the heathen out: a mist Of incense curl'd about her, and her face Wellnigh was hidden in the minster gloom;

A voice as of the waters, for she dwells Down in a deep, calm, whatsoever storms May shake the world, and when the surface (rolls,

Hath power to walk the waters like our (Lord.

There likewise I behield Excalibur Before him at his crowning borne,the sword That rose from out the bosom of the lake, And Arthur row'd across and took it-rich With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt, Bewildering heart and eye- the blade so (bright

Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world, That men are blinded by it --- on one side, "Take me,' but turn the blade and you shall (see,

And written in the speech ye speak yourself, 'Cast me away!' And sad was Arthur's face Taking it, but old Merlin counsell'd him, "Take thou and strike! the time to cast away Is yet far-off.' So this great brand the king Took,and by this will beat his foemen down."

Thereat Leodogran rejoiced, but thought To sift his doubtings to the last, and ask'd, Fixing full eyes of question on her face,

The swallow and the swift are near akin, But thou art closer to this noble prince, Being his own dear sister;" and she said, Daughter of Gorloïs and Ygerne am I;" "And therefore Arthur's sister," ask'd the (King.

She answer'd,,,These be secret things," and (sign'd

To those two sons to pass and let them be.
And Gawain went, and breaking into song
Sprang out, and follow'd by his flying hair
But Modred laid his ear beside the doors,
Ran like a colt, and leapt at all he saw:
And there half heard; the same that after-
(ward

Struck for the throne, and striking found (his doom.

And then the Queen made answer,,,What (know I?

For dark my mother was in eyes and hair,
And dark in hair and eyes am I: and dark
Was Gorloïs, yea and dark was Uther too,
Wellnigh to blackness; but this king is fair
Beyond the race of Britons and of men.
Moreover always in my mind I hear
A cry from out the dawning of my life,

He found me first when yet a little maid:
Beaten I had been for a little fault

Whereof I was not guilty; and out I ran
And flung myself down on a bank of heath,
And hated this fair world and all therein,
And wept, and wish'd that I were dead;
(and he-

I know not whether of himself he came, Or brought by Merlin, who, they say, can (walk

Unseen at pleasure he was at my side, And spake sweet words, and comforted my (heart,

And dried my tears, being a child with me.
And many a time he came, and evermore
As I grew greater grew with me; and sad
At times he seem'd, and sad with him was I,
Stern too at times, and then I loved him not,
But sweet again, and then I loved him well.
And now of late I see him less and less,
But those first days had golden hours for me,
For then I surely thought he would be king.

But let me tell thee now another tale:
For Bleys, our Merlin's master, as they say,
Died but of late, and sent his cry to me,
To hear him speak before he left his life.
Shrunk like a fairy changeling lay the mage,

And when I enter'd told me that himself
And Merlin ever served about the king,
Uther, before he died, and on the night
When Uther in Tintagil past away
Moaning and wailing for an heir, the two
Left the still king, and passing forth to
(breathe,

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
A dragon wing'd, and all from stem to stern
Bright with a shining people on the decks,
And gone as soon as seen, And then the two

(strand,

Lash'd at the wizard as he spake the word, And all at once all round hím rose in fire, So that the child and he were clothed in fire. And presently thereafter follow'd calm, Free sky and stars: 'And this same child,' (he said,

'Is he who reigns; nor could I part in peace Till this were told.' And saying this the (seer

Went thro' the strait and dreadful pass of
Not ever to be question'd any more
(death,
Save on the further side; but when I met
Merlin, and ask'd him if these things were
(truth-

The shining dragon and the naked child
Descending in the glory of the seas-
He laugh'd as is his wont, and answer'd me
In riddling triplets of old time, and said:

'Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in the A young man will be wiser by and by;. (sky! 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 too 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

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 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 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,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 honour'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride (forth

and watch'd him

And bring the Queen; (from the gates: And Lancelot past away among the flowers, (For then was latter April) and return'd Among the flowers, in May, with Guinevere. 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,

(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 knigthood 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 overcame The heathen hordes, and made a realm and (reign'd.

GARETH AND LYNETTE. THE last tall son of Lot and Bellicent, Stared at the spate. A slender-shafted Pine And tallest, Gareth, in a showerful spring Lost footing, fell, and so was whirl'd away. 'How he went down,' said Gareth, 'as a false (knight

Or evil king before my lance if lance
Were mine to use-O senseless cataract,
Bearing all down in thy precipitancy-
And 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,