Introductory reflections—Arthur's absence—Caradoc's suspended epic—The deliberations of the three friends—Merlin seeks them—The trial of the enchanted forest—Merlin's soliloquy by the fountain—The return of the knights from the forest—Merlin's selection of the one permitted to join the King—The narrative returns to Arthur—The strange guide allotted to him—He crosses the sea, and arrives at the court of the Vandal—Ludovick, the Vandal King, described—His wily questions—Arthur's answers—The Vandal seeks his friend Astutio—Arthur leaves the court—Conference between Astutio and Ludovick—Astutio's profound statesmanship and subtle schemes—The Ambassador from Mercia—His address to Ludovick—The Saxons pursue Arthur—Meanwhile the Cymrian King arrives at the sea-shore—Description of the caves that intercept his progress—He turns inland—The Idol-shrine—The wolf and the priest.
Introductory reflections—Arthur's absence—Caradoc's suspended epic—The deliberations of the three friends—Merlin seeks them—The trial of the enchanted forest—Merlin's soliloquy by the fountain—The return of the knights from the forest—Merlin's selection of the one permitted to join the King—The narrative returns to Arthur—The strange guide allotted to him—He crosses the sea, and arrives at the court of the Vandal—Ludovick, the Vandal King, described—His wily questions—Arthur's answers—The Vandal seeks his friend Astutio—Arthur leaves the court—Conference between Astutio and Ludovick—Astutio's profound statesmanship and subtle schemes—The Ambassador from Mercia—His address to Ludovick—The Saxons pursue Arthur—Meanwhile the Cymrian King arrives at the sea-shore—Description of the caves that intercept his progress—He turns inland—The Idol-shrine—The wolf and the priest.
Oft in the sands, in idle summer days,1Will childlike fondness write some cherish'd name,Lull'd on the margin, while the wavelet plays,And tides still dreaming on:—Alas! the sameOn human hearts Affection prints a trace;The sands record it, and the tides efface.If absence parts, Hope, ready to console,2Whispers, "Be soothed, the absent shall return;"If Death divides, a moment from the goal,Love stays the step, and decks, but leaves, the urn,Vowing remembrance;—let the year be o'er,And see, remembrance smiles like joy, once more!In street and mart still plies the busy craft.3Still Beauty trims for stealthy steps the bower;By lips as gay the Hirlas horn[1]is quaft;To the dark bourne still flies as fast the hour,As when in Arthur men adored the sun;And Life's large rainbow took its hues from One!Yet ne'er by Prince more loved a crown was worn,4And hadst thou ventured but to hint the doubtThat loyal subjects ever ceased to mourn,And that without him, earth was joy without,—Thou soon hadst join'd in certain warm dominionsThe hornèd friends of pestilent opinions.Thrice bless'd, O King, that on thy royal head5Fall the night-dews; that the broad-spreading beechCurtains thy sleep; that in the paths of dread,Lonely thou wanderest,—so thy steps may reachRenown,—that bridge which spans the midnight sea,And joins two worlds,—Time and Eternity!All is forgot save Poetry; or whether6Haunting Time's river from the vocal reeds,Or link'd not less in human souls togetherWith ends, which make the poetry of deeds;For either poetry alike can shine—From Hector's valour as from Homer's line.Yet let me wrong ye not, ye faithful three,7Gawaine, and Caradoc, and Lancelot!Gawaine's light lip had lost its laughing gleeAnd gentle Caradoc had half forgotThat famous epic which his muse had hit on,Of Trojan Brut—from whom the name of Briton.Therein Sir Brut, expell'd from flaming Troy,[2]8Comes to this isle, and seeks to build a city,Which Devils, then the Freeholders, destroy;Till the sweet Virgin on Sir Brut takes pity,And bids that Saint who now speaks Welsh on high,[3]Baptize the astonish'd heathen in the Wye!This done, the fiends, at once disfranchised, fled;9And to the Saint the Trojan built a chapel,Where masses daily were for Priam said:—While thrice a week, the priests, that golden appleBy which three fiends, as goddesses disguised,Bewitch'd Sir Paris, anathematized.But now this epic, in its course suspended,10Slept on the shelf—(a not uncommon fate);Ah, who shall tell, if, ere resumed and ended,That kind of poem be not out of date?For of all ladies there are none who chuseSuch freaks and turns of fashion, as the Muse.And then, sad Lancelot—but there I hold;11Some griefs there are which grief alone can guess,And so we leave whate'er he felt untold;Light steps profane the heart's deep loneliness.I, too, had once a friend, in happier years!He fled,—he owed,—forgot;—Forgive these tears!—Much, their sole comfort, much conversed the three12Upon their absent Arthur; what the causeOf his self-exile, and its ends, could be;Much did they ponder, hesitate, and pauseIn high debate if loyal love might stillPursue his wanderings, though against his will.But first the awe which kings command, restrain'd;13And next the ignorance of the path and goal;So, thus for weeks they communed and remain'd;Till o'er the woods a mellower verdure stole;The bell-flower clothed the river-banks; the moonStood in the breathless firmament of June;When—as one twilight near the forest-mount14They sate, and heard the vesper-bell afarSwing from the dim Cathedral, and the fountHymn low its own sweet music to the starLone in the west—they saw a shadow passWhere the pale beam shot silvering o'er the grass.They turn'd, beheld their Cymri's mighty seer,15Majestic Merlin, and with reverence rose;"Knights," said the soothsayer, smiling, "be of cheerIf yet alone (the stars themselves his foes)Wanders the King,—now, of his faithful threeOne, Fate permits; the choice with Fate must be."Enter the forest—each his several way;16Return as dies in air the vesper chime;The fiend the forest populace obeyHath not o'er mortals empire in the timeWhen holy sounds the wings of Heaven invite,And prayer hangs charm-like on the wheels of Night."What seen, what heard, mark mindful, and relate!17Here will I tarry till your steps return."Ne'er leapt the captive from the prison grateWith livelier gladness to the smiles of morn,Than sprang those rivals to the forest-gloom,And its dark arms closed round them like a tomb.Before the fount, with thought-o'ershadow'd brow,18The prophet stood, and bent a wistful eyeAlong its starlit shimmer;—"Ev'n as now,"He murmur'd, "didst thou lift thyself on high,O symbol of my soul, and make thy courseOne upward struggle to thy mountain source—"When first, a musing boy, I stood beside19Thy sparkling showers, and ask'd my restless heartWhat secrets Nature to the herd denied,But might to earnest hierophant impart;Then, in the boundless space around and o'er,Thought whisper'd—'Rise, O seeker, and explore;"'Can every leaf a teeming world contain,20In the least drop can race succeed to race,Yet one death-slumber in its dreamless reignClasp all the illumed magnificence of space—Life crowd the drop—from air's vast seas effaced—The leaf a world—the firmament a waste?'—"And while Thought whisper'd, from thy shining spring21The glorious answer murmur'd—'Soul of Man,Let the fount teach thee, and its struggle bringTruth to thy yearnings!—whither I began,Thither I tend; my law is to aspire:Spiritthysource, be spiritthydesire.'"And I have made the life of spirit mine;22And, on the margin of my mortal grave,My soul, already in an air divineEv'n in its terrors,—starlit, seeks to cleaveUp to the height on which its source must be—And falls again, in earthward showers, like thee."System on system climbing, sphere on sphere,23Upward for ever, ever, evermore,Can all eternity not bring more near?Is it in vain that I have sought to soar?Vain as the Has been, is the long To be?Type of my soul, O fountain, answer me!"And while he spoke, behold the night's soft flowers,24Scentless to day, awoke, and bloom'd, and breathed;Fed by the falling of the fountain's showers,Round its green marge the grateful garland wreathed;The fount might fail its source on high to gain—But ask the blossom if it soared in vain!The prophet mark'd, and, on his mighty brow,25Thought grew resign'd, serene, though mournful still.Now ceased the vesper, and the branches nowStirr'd on the margin of the forest hill—And Gawaine came into the starlit space—Slow was his step, and sullen was his face."What didst thou see?"—"The green-wood and the sky."26"What hear?"—"The light leaf dropping on the sward."And now, with front elate and hopeful eye,Stood, in the starlight, Caradoc the bard;The prophet smiled on that fair face (akinPoet and prophet), "Child of Song, begin.""I saw a glow-worm light his fairy lamp,27Close where a little torrent forced its wayThrough broad-leaved water-sedge, and alder damp;Above the glow-worm, from some lower sprayOf the near mountain-ash, the silver songOf night's sweet chorister came clear and strong;"No thrilling note of melancholy wail;28Ne'er pour'd the thrush more musical delightThrough noon-day laurels, than that nightingaleIn the lone forest to the ear of Night—Ev'n as the light web by Arachne spun,From bough to bough suspended in the sun,"Ensnares the heedless insect,—so, methought29Midway in air my soul arrested hungIn the melodious meshes; never aughtTo mortal lute was so divinely sung!Surely, O prophet, these the sound and sign,Which make the lot, the search determines mine,""O self-deceit of man!" the soothsayer sigh'd,30"The worm but lent its funeral torch the ray;The night-bird's joy but hail'd the fatal guide,In the bright glimmer, to its thoughtless prey.And thou, bold-eyed one—in the forest, whatMetthyfirm footstep?"—Out spoke Lancelot—"I pierced the forest till a pool I reach'd,31Ne'er mark'd before—a dark yet lucid wave;High from a blasted oak the night-owl screech'd,An otter crept from out its water-cave,The owl grew silent when it heard my tread—The otter mark'd my shadow, and it fled."This all I saw, and all I heard."—"Rejoice"32The enchanter cried, "for thee the omens smile;On thee propitious Fate hath fix'd the choice;And thou the comrade in the glorious toil.In death the poet only music heard;But death gave way when life's firm soldier stirr'd."Forth ride, a dauntless champion, with the morn;33But let the night the champion nerve with prayer;Higher and higher from the heron borne,Wheels thy brave falcon to the heavenliest air,Poises his wings, far towering o'er the foe,And hangs aloft, before he swoops below;"Man let the falcon teach thee!—Now, from land34To land thy guide, receive this chrystal ring;See, in the chrystal moves a fairy hand,Still, where it moveth, moves the wandering King—Or east, or north, or south, or west, where'erPoints the sure hand, thy onward path be there!"Thine hour comes soon, young Gawaine! to the port35The light heart boundeth o'er the stormiest wave;And thou, fair favourite[4]in the Fairy court,To whom its King a realm in fancy gave;Fear not from glory exiled long to be,What toil to others, Nature brings to thee."Thus with kind word, well chosen, unto each36Spoke the benign enchanter; and the twain,Less favour'd, heart and comfort from his speechHopeful conceived; the prophet up the plain,Gathering weird simples, pass'd—to Carduel they;And song escapes to Arthur's lonely way.On towards the ocean-shore (for thus the seer37Enjoin'd) the royal knight, deep musing, rode;Winding green margins, till more near and nearUnto the main the exulting river flow'd.Here too a guide, when reach'd the mightier wave,The heedful promise of the prophet gave.Where the sea flashes on the argent sands,38Soars from a lonely rock a snow-white dove:No bird more beauteous to immortal landsBore Psyche rescued side by side with Love.Ev'n as some thought which, pure of earthly taint,Springs from the chaste heart of a virgin saint.It hovers in the heaven:—and from its wings39Shakes the clear dewdrops of unsullying seas;Then circling gently in slow-measured rings,Nearer and nearer to its goal it flees,And drooping, fearless, on that noble breast,Murmuring low joy, it coos itself to rest.The grateful King, with many a soothing word,40And bland caress, the guileless trust repaid;When, gently gliding from his hand, the birdWent fluttering where the hollow headlands madeA boat's small harbour; Arthur from the chainReleased the raft,—it shot along the main.Now in that boat, beneath the eyes of heaven,41Floated the three, the steed, the bird, the man;To favouring winds the little sail was given;The shore fail'd gradual, dwindling to a span;The steed bent wistful o'er the watery realm;And the white dove perch'd tranquil at the helm.Haply by fisherman, its owner, left,42Within the boat were rude provisions stored;The yellow harvest from the wild bee reft,Bread, roots, dried fish, the luxuries of a boardHealth spreads for toil; while skins and flasks of reedYield, these the water, those the strengthening mead.Five days, five nights, still onward, onward o'er43Light-swelling waves, bounded the bark its way:At last the sun set reddening on a shore;Walls on the cliff, and war-ships in the bay;While from bright towers, o'erlooking sea and plain,The Leopard-banners told the Vandal's reign.Amid those shifting royalties, the North44Pour'd from its teeming breast, in tumult driven,Now to, now fro, as thunder-clouds sent forthTo darken, burst,—and bursting, clear the heaven;Ere yet the Nomad nations found repose,And order dawn'd as Charlemain arose;Amidst that ferment of fierce races, won45To yonder shores a wandering Vandal horde,Whose chief exchanged his war-tent for a throne,And shaped a sceptre from a conqueror's sword;His sons, expell'd by rude intestine broil,Sought that worst wilderness—the Stranger's soil.A distant kinsman, Ludovick his name,46With them was exiled, and with them return'd.A prince of popular and patriot fame;To roast his egg your house he would have burn'd!A patriot soul no ties of kindred knows—His kinsman's palace was the house he chose.A patriot gamester playing for a Crown,47He watch'd the hazard with indifferent air,Rebuked well-wishers with a gentle frown,Then dropp'd the whisper—"What I win I share."Who plays for power should make the odds so fall,That one man's luck should seem the gain of all.The moment came, disorder split the realm;48Too stern the ruler, or too feebly stern;The supple kinsman slided to the helm,And trimm'd the rudder with a dexterous turn;A turn so dexterous, that it served to flingBothoverboard—the people and the king!The captain's post repaid the pilot's task,49He seized the ship as he had cleared the prow;Drop we the metaphor as he the mask:And, while his gaping Vandals wonder'd how,Behold the patriot to the despot grown,Filch'd from the fight, and juggled to the throne!And bland in words was wily Ludovick!50Much did he promise, nought did he fulfil;The trickster Fortune loves the hands that trick,And smiled approving on her conjuror's skill!The promised freedom vanish'd in a tax,And bays, turn'd briars, scourged bewilder'd backs.Soon is the landing of the stranger knight51Known at the court; and courteously the kingGives to his guest the hospitable rite;Heralds the tromp, and harpers wake the string;Rich robes of miniver the mail replace,And the bright banquet sparkles on the dais.Where on the wall the cloth, goldwoven, glow'd,52Beside his chair of state, the Vandal lordMade room for that fair stranger, as he strodeWith a king's footstep, to the kingly board.In robes so nobly worn, the wise old manSaw some great soul, which cunning whisper'd "scan."A portly presence had the realm-deceiver;53Ah eye urbane, a people-catching smile,A brow of webs the everlasting weaver,Where jovial frankness mask'd the serious guile;Each word, well aim'd, he feather'd with a jest,And, unsuspected, shot into the breast.Gaily he welcomed Arthur to the feast,54And press'd the goblet, which unties the tongue;As the bowl circled so his speech increased,And chose such flatteries as seduce the young;Seeming in each kind question more to blendThe fondling father with the anxious friend.If frank the prince, esteem him not the less;55The soul of knighthood loves the truth of man;The boons he sought 'twas needful to suppress,Not mask the seeker; so the prince began—"Arthur my name, fromYnys Vel[5]I come,And the steep homes of Cymri's Christendom."Five days ago, in Carduel's halls a king,56A lonely pilgrim now o'er lands and seas,I seek such fame as gallant deeds can bring,And hope from danger gifts denied to ease;Lore from experience, thought from toil to gain,And learn as man how best as king to reign."The Vandal smiled, and praised the high design;57Then, careless, questioned of the Cymrian land:"Was earth propitious to the corn and vine?Was the sun genial?—were the breezes bland?Did gold and gem the mountain mines conceal?"—"Our soil bears manhood, and our mountains steel,"The Monarch answer'd; "and where these are found,58All plains yield harvests, and all mines the gold."—"Your hills are doubtless," quoth the Vandal, "crown'dWith castled tower, and fosse-defended hold?"—"One hold the land—its mightiest fosse the sea;And its strong walls the bosoms of the free."The Vandal mused, and thought the answers shrewd,59But little suited to the listeners by;So turn'd the subject, nor again renew'dSharp questions blunted by such bold reply.Now ceased the banquet; to a chamber, spreadWith fragrant heath, his guest the Vandal led.With his own hand unclasp'd the mantle's fold,60And took his leave in blessings without number;Bade every angel shelter from the cold,And every saint watch sleepless o'er the slumber;Then his own chamber sought, and rack'd his breastTo find some use to which to put the guest.Three days did Arthur sojourn in that court;61And much he marvell'd how that warlike raceBow'd to a chief, whom never knightly sport,The gallant tourney, nor the glowing chaseAllured; and least those glory-lighted dyesWhich make death lovely in a warrior's eyes.Yet, 'midst his marvel, much the Cymrian sees62For king to imitate and sage to praise;Splendour and thrift in nicely-poised degrees,Caution that guards, and promptness that dismays;But Fraud will oftimes make the Fate it fears;—Some day, found stifled by the mask it wears.On his part, Arthur in such estimation63Did the host hold, that he proposed to takeA father's charge of his forsaken nation."He loved not meddling, but for Arthur's sake,Would leave his own, his guest's affairs to mind."An offer Arthur thankfully declined.Much grieved the Vandal "that he just had given64His last unwedded daughter to a Frank,But still he had a wifeless son, thank Heaven!Not yet provision'd as beseem'd his rank,And one of Arthur's sisters——" Uther's sonSmiled, and replied—"Sir king, I have but one,"Borne by my mother to her former lord;65Not young."—"Alack! youth cannot last like riches.""Not fair."—"Then youth is less to be deplored.""A witch."[6]—"Allwomen till they're wedarewitches!Wived to my son, the witch will soon be steady!""Wived to your son?—she is a wife already!"O baseless dreams of man! The king stood mute!66That son, of all his house the favourite flower,How had he sought to force it into fruit,And graft the slip upon a lusty dower!And this sole sister of a king so rich,A wife already!—Saints consume the witch!With brow deject, the mournful Vandal took67Occasion prompt to leave his royal guest,And sought a friend who served him, as a bookRead in our illness, in our health dismiss'd;For seldom did the Vandal condescendTo that poor drudge which monarchs call a friend!And yet Astutio was a man of worth68Before the brain had reason'd out the heart;But now he learned to look upon the earthAs peddling hucksters look upon the mart;Took souls for wares, and conscience for a till;And damn'd his fame to serve his master's will.Much lore he had in men, and states, and things,69And kept his memory mapp'd in prim precision,With histories, laws, and pedigrees of kings,And moral saws, which ran through each division,All neatly colour'd with appropriate hue—The histories black, the morals heavenly blue!But state-craft, mainly, was his pride and boast;70"The golden medium" was his guiding star,Which means "move on until you're uppermost,And then things can't be better than they are!"Brief, in two rules he summ'd the ends of man—"Keep all you have, and try for all you can!"While these conferr'd, fair Arthur wistfully71Look'd from the lattice of his stately room;The rainbow spann'd the ocean of the sky,An arch of glory in the midst of gloom;So light from dark by lofty souls is won,And on the rain-cloud they reflect the sun.As such, perchance, his thought, the snow-white dove,72Which at the threshold of the Vandal's towersHad left his side, came circling from above,Athwart the rainbow and the sparkling showers,Flew through the open lattice, paused, and sprungWhere on the wall the abandon'd armour hung;Hover'd above the lance, the mail, the crest,73Then back to Arthur, and with querulous cries,Peck'd at the clasp that bound the flowing vest,Chiding his dalliance from the arm'd emprize,So Arthur deem'd; and soon from head to heelBlazed War's dread statue, sculptured from the steel.Then through the doorway flew the wingèd guide,74Skimm'd the long gallery, shunn'd the thronging hall,And, through deserted posterns, led the strideOf its arm'd follower to the charger's stall;Loud neigh'd the destrier[7]at the welcome clangAnd drowsy horseboys into service sprang.Though threaten'd danger well the prince divined,75He deem'd it churlish in ungracious hasteThus to depart, nor thank a host so kind;But when the step the courteous thought retraced,With breast and wing the dove opposed his way,And warn'd with scaring scream the rash delay.The King reluctant yields. Now in the court76Paws with impatient hoof the barbèd steed;Now yawn the sombre portals of the fort;Creaks the hoarse drawbridge;—now the walls are freed.Through dun woods hanging o'er the ocean tide,Glimmers the steel, and gleams the angel-guide.An opening glade upon the headland's prow77Sudden admits the ocean and the day.Lo! the waves cleft before the gilded prow,Where the tall war-ship, towering, sweeps to bay.Why starts the King?—High over mast and sail,The Saxon Horse rides ghastly in the gale!Grateful to heaven, and heaven's plumed messenger,78He raised his reverent eyes, then shook the rein:Bounded the barb, disdainful of the spur,Clear'd the steep cliff, and scour'd along the plain.Still, while he sped, the swifter wings that leadSeem to rebuke for sloth the swiftening steed.Nor cause unmeet for grateful thought, I ween,79Had the good King; nor vainly warn'd the bird;Nor idly fled the steed; as shall be seen,If, where the Vandal and his friend conferr'd,Awhile our path retracing, we relateWhat craft deems guiltless when the craft of state."Sire," quoth Astutio, "well I comprehend80Your cause for grief; the seedsman breaks the groundFor the new plant; new thrones that would extendTheir roots, must loosen all the earth around;For trees and thrones no rule than this more true,What most disturbs the old best serves the new."Thus all ways wise to push your princely son81Under the soil of Cymri's ancient stem;And if the ground the thriving plant had won,What prudent man will plants that thrive condemn?Sir, in your move a master hand is seen,Your well play'd bishop caught both tower and queen.""And now checkmate!" the wretched sire exclaims,82With watering eyes, and mouth that water'd too."Nay," quoth the sage; "a match means many games,Replace the pieces, and begin anew.You want this Cymrian's crown—the want is just."—"But how to get it?"—"Sir, with ease, I trust."The witch is married—better that than burn83(A well-known text—to witches not applied);But let that pass:—great sir, to Anglia turn,And mate your Vandal with a Saxon bride.Her dower," cried Ludovick, "the dower's the thing.""The lands and sceptre of the Cymrian King."Then to that anxious sire the learned man84Bared the large purpose latent in his speech;O'er Britain's gloomy history glibly ran;Anglia's new kingdoms, he described them each;But most himself to Mercia he addresses,For Mercia's king, great man, hath two princesses!Long on this glowing theme enlarged the sage,85And turn'd, return'd, and turn'd it o'er again;Thus when a mercer would your greed engageIn some fair silk, or cloth of comely grain,He spreads it out—upholds it to the day,Then sighs "So cheap, too!"—and your soul gives way.He show'd the Saxon, hungering to devour86The last unconquer'd realm the Cymrian boasts;He dwelt at length on Mercia's gathering power,Swell'd, year by year, from Elbe's unfailing hosts.Then proved how Mercia scarcely could retainBeneath the sceptre what the sword might gain."For Mercia's vales from Cymri's hills are far,87And Mercian warriors hard to keep afield;And men fresh conquer'd stormy subjects are;What can't be held 'tis no great loss to yield;And still the Saxon might secure his end,If where the foe had reign'd he left the friend."Nay, what so politic in Mercia's king88As on that throne a son-in-law to place?"While thus they saw their birds upon the wingEre hatched the egg,—as is the common caseWith large capacious minds, the natural heirsOf that vast property—the things not theirs!In comes a herald—comes with startling news:89"A Saxon chief has anchor'd in the bay,From Mercia's king ambassador, and suesThe royal audience ere the close of day."The wise old men upon each other stare,"While monarchs counsel, thus the saints prepare,"Astutio murmur'd, with a pious smile.90"Admit the noble Saxon," quoth the King.The two laugh out, and rub their palms, the whileThe herald speeds the ambassador to bring;And soon a chief, fair-hair'd, erect, and tall,With train and trumpet, strides along the hall.Upon his wrist a falcon, bell'd, he bore;91Leash'd at his heels six bloodhounds grimly stalk'd;A broad round shield was slung his breast before;The floors reclang'd with armour as he walk'd;He gained the dais; his standard-bearer spreadBroadly the banner o'er his helmèd head,And thrice the tromp his blazon'd herald woke,92And hail'd Earl Harold from the Mercian king.Full on the Vandal gazed the earl, and spoke:"Greeting from Crida, Woden's heir, I bring,And these plain words:—'The Saxon's steel is bare,Red harvests wait it—will the Vandal share?"'Hengist first chased the Briton from the vale;93Crida would hound the Briton from the hill;Stern hands have loosed the Pale Horse on the gale;The Horse shall halt not till the winds are still.Be ours your foemen,—be your foemen shown,And we in turn will smite them as our own."'We need allies—in you allies we call;94Your shores oppose the Cymrian's mountain sway;Your armèd men stand idle in your hall;Your vessels rot within your crowded bay:Send three full squadrons to the Mercian bands—Send seven tall war-ships to the Cymrian lands."'If this you grant, as from the old renown95Of Vandal valour, Saxon men believe,Our arms will solve all question to your crown;If not, the heirs you banish we receive;But one rude maxim Saxon bluntness knows—We serve our friends, who are not friends are foes!"'Thus speaks King Crida.'" Not the manner much96Of that brief speech wise Ludovick admired;But still the matter did so nearly touchThe great state-objects recently desired,That the sage brows dismiss'd in haste the frown,And lips sore-smiling gulp'd resentment down.Fair words he gave, and friendly hints of aid,97And pray'd the envoy in his halls to rest;And more, in truth, to please the earl had said,But that the sojourn of the earlier guest(For not the parting of the Cymrian known)Forbade his heart too plainly to be shown.But ere a long and oily speech had closed,98Astutio, who the hall, when it begun,Had left, to seek the prince (whom he proposed,If yet the tidings to his ear had wonOf his foe's envoy, by some smooth pretextTo lull), came back with visage much perplext—And whisper'd Ludovick—"The King has fled!"99The Vandal stammer'd, stared, but versed in allThe quick resources of a wily head,That out of evil still a good could call,He did but pause, with more effect to wingThe stone that chance thus fitted to his sling."Saxon," he said, "thus far we had premised,100And if still wavering, not our heart in fault.Three days ago, the Cymrian king, disguised,First drank our cup, and tasted of our salt,And hence our zeal to aid you we represt,Deeming your foe was still the Vandal's guest."Lo, while we speak, the saints the bond release;101Arthur hath gone from us;—the host is free.""Arthur—the Cymrian!" cried the envoy. "Peace;In deeds, not words, men's love the Saxons see:Gone!—whither wends he? But a word I need—Leave to the rest my bloodhounds and my steed."Dumb sate the Vandal, dumb with fear and shame:102No slave to virtue, but its shade was he;A tower of strength is in an honest name—'Tis wise to seem what oft 'tis dull to be!A kingly host a kingly guest betray!The chafing Saxon brook'd not that delay—But turn'd his sparkling eyes behind, and saw103His knights and squires with zeal as fierce inflamed,And out he spoke,—"The hospitable lawWe will not trench, whate'er the guest hath claim'dLet the host yield! forgive, that, hotly stirr'd,His course I question'd; I retract the word."If on your hearth he stands, protect; within104Your realm if wandering, guard him as you may;This hearth not ours, nor this our realm;—no sinTo chase our foeman, whatsoe'er his way:Up spear—forth sword! to selle each Saxon man—Unleash the warhounds—stay us those who can!"Loud rang the armèd tumult in the hall;105Rush'd to the doors the Saxon's fiery band;Yell'd the gaunt bloodhounds loosen'd from the thrall;Steeds neigh'd; leapt forth the falchion to the hand;Low on the earth the bloodhounds track'd the scent,And where they guided there the hunters went.Amazed the Vandal with his friend debates106What course were best in such extremes to choose;Nicely they weigh;—the Saxons pass the gates:Finely refine;—the chase its prey pursues.And while the chase pursues, to him, whose wayThe dove directs, well pleased, returns the lay.Twilight was on the earth, when paused the King107Lone by the beach of far-resounding seas;Rock upon rock, behind, a Titan ring,Closed round a gorge o'erhung with breathless trees,A horror of still umbrage; and, before,Wave-hollow'd caves arch'd, ruinous, the shore.Column and vault, and seaweed-dripping domes,108Long vistas opening through the streets of dark,Seem'd like a city's skeleton; the homesOf giant races vanish'd since the arkRested on Ararat: from side to sideMoan the lock'd waves that ebb not with the tide.Here, path forbid; where, length'ning up the land,109The deep gorge stretches to a night of pine,Veer the white wings; and there the slacken'd handGuides the tired steed; deeplier the shades decline;Dull'd with each step into the darker gloomFollows the ocean's hollow-sounding boom.Sudden starts back the steed, with bristling mane110And nostrils snorting fear; from out the shadeLoom the vast columns of a roofless fane,Meet for some god whom savage man hath made:A mighty pine-torch on the altar glow'dAnd lit the goddess of the grim abode—So that the lurid idol, from its throne,111Glared on the wanderer with a stony eye;The King breathed quick the Christian orison,Spurr'd the scared barb, and pass'd abhorrent by—Nor mark'd a figure on the floor reclined:It watch'd, it rose, it crept, it dogg'd behind.Three days, three nights, within that dismal shrine,112Had couch'd that man, and hunger'd for his prey.Chieftain and priest of hordes that from the RhineHad track'd in carnage thitherwards their way;Fell souls that still maintain'd their rites of yore,And hideous altars rank with human gore.By monstrous Oracles a coming foe,113Whose steps appal his gods, hath been foretold;The fane must fall unless the blood shall flow;Therefore three days, three nights he watch'd;—beholdAt last the death-torch of the blazing pineDarts on the foe the lightning of the shrine!Stealthily on, amidst the brushwood, crept114With practised foot and unrelaxing eye,The steadfast Murder;—where the still leaf sleptThe still leaf stirr'd not: as it glided byThe mosses gave no echo; not a breath!Nature was hush'd as if in league with Death!As moved the man, so, on the opposing side115Of the deep gorge, with purpose like his own,Did steps as noiseless to the blood-feast glide;And as the man before his idol's throneHad watch'd,—so watch'd, since daylight left the air,A giant wolf within its leafy lair.Whether the blaze allured, or hunger stung,116There still had cower'd and crouch'd the beast of prey;With lurid eyes unwinking, spell-bound, clungTo the near ridge that faced the torchlit way;As the steed pass'd, it rose! On either side,Here glides the wild beast, there the man doth glide.But all unconscious of the double foe,117Paused Arthur, where his resting-place the doveSeem'd to select,—his couch a mound below;A bowering beech his canopy above:From his worn steed the barded mail released,And left it, reinless, to its herbage-feast.Then from his brow the mighty helm unbraced,118And from his breast the hauberk's heavy load;On the tree's trunk the trophied arms he placed,And, ere to rest the weary limbs bestow'd,Thrice sign'd the cross the fiends of night to scare,And guarded helpless sleep with potent prayer.Then on the moss-grown couch he laid him down,119Fearless of night and hopeful for the morn:On Slumber's lap the head without a crownForgot the gilded trouble it had worn;The Warrior slept—the browsing charger stray'd—The dove, unsleeping, watch'd amidst the shade.And now, on either hand the dreaming King120Death halts to strike: the crouching wild beast, here,From the close crag prepares the rushing spring;There, from the thicket creeping, near and near,Steals the wild man, and listens for a sound—Lifts the pale steel, and gathers for the bound.But what befell? O thou, whose gentle heart121Lists, scornful not, this undiurnal rhyme;If, as thy steps to busier life depart,Still in thine ear rings low the haunting chime,When leisure suits once more forsake the throng,Call childhood back, and redemand the song.
Oft in the sands, in idle summer days,1Will childlike fondness write some cherish'd name,Lull'd on the margin, while the wavelet plays,And tides still dreaming on:—Alas! the sameOn human hearts Affection prints a trace;The sands record it, and the tides efface.
If absence parts, Hope, ready to console,2Whispers, "Be soothed, the absent shall return;"If Death divides, a moment from the goal,Love stays the step, and decks, but leaves, the urn,Vowing remembrance;—let the year be o'er,And see, remembrance smiles like joy, once more!
In street and mart still plies the busy craft.3Still Beauty trims for stealthy steps the bower;By lips as gay the Hirlas horn[1]is quaft;To the dark bourne still flies as fast the hour,As when in Arthur men adored the sun;And Life's large rainbow took its hues from One!
Yet ne'er by Prince more loved a crown was worn,4And hadst thou ventured but to hint the doubtThat loyal subjects ever ceased to mourn,And that without him, earth was joy without,—Thou soon hadst join'd in certain warm dominionsThe hornèd friends of pestilent opinions.
Thrice bless'd, O King, that on thy royal head5Fall the night-dews; that the broad-spreading beechCurtains thy sleep; that in the paths of dread,Lonely thou wanderest,—so thy steps may reachRenown,—that bridge which spans the midnight sea,And joins two worlds,—Time and Eternity!
All is forgot save Poetry; or whether6Haunting Time's river from the vocal reeds,Or link'd not less in human souls togetherWith ends, which make the poetry of deeds;For either poetry alike can shine—From Hector's valour as from Homer's line.
Yet let me wrong ye not, ye faithful three,7Gawaine, and Caradoc, and Lancelot!Gawaine's light lip had lost its laughing gleeAnd gentle Caradoc had half forgotThat famous epic which his muse had hit on,Of Trojan Brut—from whom the name of Briton.
Therein Sir Brut, expell'd from flaming Troy,[2]8Comes to this isle, and seeks to build a city,Which Devils, then the Freeholders, destroy;Till the sweet Virgin on Sir Brut takes pity,And bids that Saint who now speaks Welsh on high,[3]Baptize the astonish'd heathen in the Wye!
This done, the fiends, at once disfranchised, fled;9And to the Saint the Trojan built a chapel,Where masses daily were for Priam said:—While thrice a week, the priests, that golden appleBy which three fiends, as goddesses disguised,Bewitch'd Sir Paris, anathematized.
But now this epic, in its course suspended,10Slept on the shelf—(a not uncommon fate);Ah, who shall tell, if, ere resumed and ended,That kind of poem be not out of date?For of all ladies there are none who chuseSuch freaks and turns of fashion, as the Muse.
And then, sad Lancelot—but there I hold;11Some griefs there are which grief alone can guess,And so we leave whate'er he felt untold;Light steps profane the heart's deep loneliness.I, too, had once a friend, in happier years!He fled,—he owed,—forgot;—Forgive these tears!—
Much, their sole comfort, much conversed the three12Upon their absent Arthur; what the causeOf his self-exile, and its ends, could be;Much did they ponder, hesitate, and pauseIn high debate if loyal love might stillPursue his wanderings, though against his will.
But first the awe which kings command, restrain'd;13And next the ignorance of the path and goal;So, thus for weeks they communed and remain'd;Till o'er the woods a mellower verdure stole;The bell-flower clothed the river-banks; the moonStood in the breathless firmament of June;
When—as one twilight near the forest-mount14They sate, and heard the vesper-bell afarSwing from the dim Cathedral, and the fountHymn low its own sweet music to the starLone in the west—they saw a shadow passWhere the pale beam shot silvering o'er the grass.
They turn'd, beheld their Cymri's mighty seer,15Majestic Merlin, and with reverence rose;"Knights," said the soothsayer, smiling, "be of cheerIf yet alone (the stars themselves his foes)Wanders the King,—now, of his faithful threeOne, Fate permits; the choice with Fate must be.
"Enter the forest—each his several way;16Return as dies in air the vesper chime;The fiend the forest populace obeyHath not o'er mortals empire in the timeWhen holy sounds the wings of Heaven invite,And prayer hangs charm-like on the wheels of Night.
"What seen, what heard, mark mindful, and relate!17Here will I tarry till your steps return."Ne'er leapt the captive from the prison grateWith livelier gladness to the smiles of morn,Than sprang those rivals to the forest-gloom,And its dark arms closed round them like a tomb.
Before the fount, with thought-o'ershadow'd brow,18The prophet stood, and bent a wistful eyeAlong its starlit shimmer;—"Ev'n as now,"He murmur'd, "didst thou lift thyself on high,O symbol of my soul, and make thy courseOne upward struggle to thy mountain source—
"When first, a musing boy, I stood beside19Thy sparkling showers, and ask'd my restless heartWhat secrets Nature to the herd denied,But might to earnest hierophant impart;Then, in the boundless space around and o'er,Thought whisper'd—'Rise, O seeker, and explore;
"'Can every leaf a teeming world contain,20In the least drop can race succeed to race,Yet one death-slumber in its dreamless reignClasp all the illumed magnificence of space—Life crowd the drop—from air's vast seas effaced—The leaf a world—the firmament a waste?'—
"And while Thought whisper'd, from thy shining spring21The glorious answer murmur'd—'Soul of Man,Let the fount teach thee, and its struggle bringTruth to thy yearnings!—whither I began,Thither I tend; my law is to aspire:Spiritthysource, be spiritthydesire.'
"And I have made the life of spirit mine;22And, on the margin of my mortal grave,My soul, already in an air divineEv'n in its terrors,—starlit, seeks to cleaveUp to the height on which its source must be—And falls again, in earthward showers, like thee.
"System on system climbing, sphere on sphere,23Upward for ever, ever, evermore,Can all eternity not bring more near?Is it in vain that I have sought to soar?Vain as the Has been, is the long To be?Type of my soul, O fountain, answer me!"
And while he spoke, behold the night's soft flowers,24Scentless to day, awoke, and bloom'd, and breathed;Fed by the falling of the fountain's showers,Round its green marge the grateful garland wreathed;The fount might fail its source on high to gain—But ask the blossom if it soared in vain!
The prophet mark'd, and, on his mighty brow,25Thought grew resign'd, serene, though mournful still.Now ceased the vesper, and the branches nowStirr'd on the margin of the forest hill—And Gawaine came into the starlit space—Slow was his step, and sullen was his face.
"What didst thou see?"—"The green-wood and the sky."26"What hear?"—"The light leaf dropping on the sward."And now, with front elate and hopeful eye,Stood, in the starlight, Caradoc the bard;The prophet smiled on that fair face (akinPoet and prophet), "Child of Song, begin."
"I saw a glow-worm light his fairy lamp,27Close where a little torrent forced its wayThrough broad-leaved water-sedge, and alder damp;Above the glow-worm, from some lower sprayOf the near mountain-ash, the silver songOf night's sweet chorister came clear and strong;
"No thrilling note of melancholy wail;28Ne'er pour'd the thrush more musical delightThrough noon-day laurels, than that nightingaleIn the lone forest to the ear of Night—Ev'n as the light web by Arachne spun,From bough to bough suspended in the sun,
"Ensnares the heedless insect,—so, methought29Midway in air my soul arrested hungIn the melodious meshes; never aughtTo mortal lute was so divinely sung!Surely, O prophet, these the sound and sign,Which make the lot, the search determines mine,"
"O self-deceit of man!" the soothsayer sigh'd,30"The worm but lent its funeral torch the ray;The night-bird's joy but hail'd the fatal guide,In the bright glimmer, to its thoughtless prey.And thou, bold-eyed one—in the forest, whatMetthyfirm footstep?"—Out spoke Lancelot—
"I pierced the forest till a pool I reach'd,31Ne'er mark'd before—a dark yet lucid wave;High from a blasted oak the night-owl screech'd,An otter crept from out its water-cave,The owl grew silent when it heard my tread—The otter mark'd my shadow, and it fled.
"This all I saw, and all I heard."—"Rejoice"32The enchanter cried, "for thee the omens smile;On thee propitious Fate hath fix'd the choice;And thou the comrade in the glorious toil.In death the poet only music heard;But death gave way when life's firm soldier stirr'd.
"Forth ride, a dauntless champion, with the morn;33But let the night the champion nerve with prayer;Higher and higher from the heron borne,Wheels thy brave falcon to the heavenliest air,Poises his wings, far towering o'er the foe,And hangs aloft, before he swoops below;
"Man let the falcon teach thee!—Now, from land34To land thy guide, receive this chrystal ring;See, in the chrystal moves a fairy hand,Still, where it moveth, moves the wandering King—Or east, or north, or south, or west, where'erPoints the sure hand, thy onward path be there!
"Thine hour comes soon, young Gawaine! to the port35The light heart boundeth o'er the stormiest wave;And thou, fair favourite[4]in the Fairy court,To whom its King a realm in fancy gave;Fear not from glory exiled long to be,What toil to others, Nature brings to thee."
Thus with kind word, well chosen, unto each36Spoke the benign enchanter; and the twain,Less favour'd, heart and comfort from his speechHopeful conceived; the prophet up the plain,Gathering weird simples, pass'd—to Carduel they;And song escapes to Arthur's lonely way.
On towards the ocean-shore (for thus the seer37Enjoin'd) the royal knight, deep musing, rode;Winding green margins, till more near and nearUnto the main the exulting river flow'd.Here too a guide, when reach'd the mightier wave,The heedful promise of the prophet gave.
Where the sea flashes on the argent sands,38Soars from a lonely rock a snow-white dove:No bird more beauteous to immortal landsBore Psyche rescued side by side with Love.Ev'n as some thought which, pure of earthly taint,Springs from the chaste heart of a virgin saint.
It hovers in the heaven:—and from its wings39Shakes the clear dewdrops of unsullying seas;Then circling gently in slow-measured rings,Nearer and nearer to its goal it flees,And drooping, fearless, on that noble breast,Murmuring low joy, it coos itself to rest.
The grateful King, with many a soothing word,40And bland caress, the guileless trust repaid;When, gently gliding from his hand, the birdWent fluttering where the hollow headlands madeA boat's small harbour; Arthur from the chainReleased the raft,—it shot along the main.
Now in that boat, beneath the eyes of heaven,41Floated the three, the steed, the bird, the man;To favouring winds the little sail was given;The shore fail'd gradual, dwindling to a span;The steed bent wistful o'er the watery realm;And the white dove perch'd tranquil at the helm.
Haply by fisherman, its owner, left,42Within the boat were rude provisions stored;The yellow harvest from the wild bee reft,Bread, roots, dried fish, the luxuries of a boardHealth spreads for toil; while skins and flasks of reedYield, these the water, those the strengthening mead.
Five days, five nights, still onward, onward o'er43Light-swelling waves, bounded the bark its way:At last the sun set reddening on a shore;Walls on the cliff, and war-ships in the bay;While from bright towers, o'erlooking sea and plain,The Leopard-banners told the Vandal's reign.
Amid those shifting royalties, the North44Pour'd from its teeming breast, in tumult driven,Now to, now fro, as thunder-clouds sent forthTo darken, burst,—and bursting, clear the heaven;Ere yet the Nomad nations found repose,And order dawn'd as Charlemain arose;
Amidst that ferment of fierce races, won45To yonder shores a wandering Vandal horde,Whose chief exchanged his war-tent for a throne,And shaped a sceptre from a conqueror's sword;His sons, expell'd by rude intestine broil,Sought that worst wilderness—the Stranger's soil.
A distant kinsman, Ludovick his name,46With them was exiled, and with them return'd.A prince of popular and patriot fame;To roast his egg your house he would have burn'd!A patriot soul no ties of kindred knows—His kinsman's palace was the house he chose.
A patriot gamester playing for a Crown,47He watch'd the hazard with indifferent air,Rebuked well-wishers with a gentle frown,Then dropp'd the whisper—"What I win I share."Who plays for power should make the odds so fall,That one man's luck should seem the gain of all.
The moment came, disorder split the realm;48Too stern the ruler, or too feebly stern;The supple kinsman slided to the helm,And trimm'd the rudder with a dexterous turn;A turn so dexterous, that it served to flingBothoverboard—the people and the king!
The captain's post repaid the pilot's task,49He seized the ship as he had cleared the prow;Drop we the metaphor as he the mask:And, while his gaping Vandals wonder'd how,Behold the patriot to the despot grown,Filch'd from the fight, and juggled to the throne!
And bland in words was wily Ludovick!50Much did he promise, nought did he fulfil;The trickster Fortune loves the hands that trick,And smiled approving on her conjuror's skill!The promised freedom vanish'd in a tax,And bays, turn'd briars, scourged bewilder'd backs.
Soon is the landing of the stranger knight51Known at the court; and courteously the kingGives to his guest the hospitable rite;Heralds the tromp, and harpers wake the string;Rich robes of miniver the mail replace,And the bright banquet sparkles on the dais.
Where on the wall the cloth, goldwoven, glow'd,52Beside his chair of state, the Vandal lordMade room for that fair stranger, as he strodeWith a king's footstep, to the kingly board.In robes so nobly worn, the wise old manSaw some great soul, which cunning whisper'd "scan."
A portly presence had the realm-deceiver;53Ah eye urbane, a people-catching smile,A brow of webs the everlasting weaver,Where jovial frankness mask'd the serious guile;Each word, well aim'd, he feather'd with a jest,And, unsuspected, shot into the breast.
Gaily he welcomed Arthur to the feast,54And press'd the goblet, which unties the tongue;As the bowl circled so his speech increased,And chose such flatteries as seduce the young;Seeming in each kind question more to blendThe fondling father with the anxious friend.
If frank the prince, esteem him not the less;55The soul of knighthood loves the truth of man;The boons he sought 'twas needful to suppress,Not mask the seeker; so the prince began—"Arthur my name, fromYnys Vel[5]I come,And the steep homes of Cymri's Christendom.
"Five days ago, in Carduel's halls a king,56A lonely pilgrim now o'er lands and seas,I seek such fame as gallant deeds can bring,And hope from danger gifts denied to ease;Lore from experience, thought from toil to gain,And learn as man how best as king to reign."
The Vandal smiled, and praised the high design;57Then, careless, questioned of the Cymrian land:"Was earth propitious to the corn and vine?Was the sun genial?—were the breezes bland?Did gold and gem the mountain mines conceal?"—"Our soil bears manhood, and our mountains steel,"
The Monarch answer'd; "and where these are found,58All plains yield harvests, and all mines the gold."—"Your hills are doubtless," quoth the Vandal, "crown'dWith castled tower, and fosse-defended hold?"—"One hold the land—its mightiest fosse the sea;And its strong walls the bosoms of the free."
The Vandal mused, and thought the answers shrewd,59But little suited to the listeners by;So turn'd the subject, nor again renew'dSharp questions blunted by such bold reply.Now ceased the banquet; to a chamber, spreadWith fragrant heath, his guest the Vandal led.
With his own hand unclasp'd the mantle's fold,60And took his leave in blessings without number;Bade every angel shelter from the cold,And every saint watch sleepless o'er the slumber;Then his own chamber sought, and rack'd his breastTo find some use to which to put the guest.
Three days did Arthur sojourn in that court;61And much he marvell'd how that warlike raceBow'd to a chief, whom never knightly sport,The gallant tourney, nor the glowing chaseAllured; and least those glory-lighted dyesWhich make death lovely in a warrior's eyes.
Yet, 'midst his marvel, much the Cymrian sees62For king to imitate and sage to praise;Splendour and thrift in nicely-poised degrees,Caution that guards, and promptness that dismays;But Fraud will oftimes make the Fate it fears;—Some day, found stifled by the mask it wears.
On his part, Arthur in such estimation63Did the host hold, that he proposed to takeA father's charge of his forsaken nation."He loved not meddling, but for Arthur's sake,Would leave his own, his guest's affairs to mind."An offer Arthur thankfully declined.
Much grieved the Vandal "that he just had given64His last unwedded daughter to a Frank,But still he had a wifeless son, thank Heaven!Not yet provision'd as beseem'd his rank,And one of Arthur's sisters——" Uther's sonSmiled, and replied—"Sir king, I have but one,
"Borne by my mother to her former lord;65Not young."—"Alack! youth cannot last like riches.""Not fair."—"Then youth is less to be deplored.""A witch."[6]—"Allwomen till they're wedarewitches!Wived to my son, the witch will soon be steady!""Wived to your son?—she is a wife already!"
O baseless dreams of man! The king stood mute!66That son, of all his house the favourite flower,How had he sought to force it into fruit,And graft the slip upon a lusty dower!And this sole sister of a king so rich,A wife already!—Saints consume the witch!
With brow deject, the mournful Vandal took67Occasion prompt to leave his royal guest,And sought a friend who served him, as a bookRead in our illness, in our health dismiss'd;For seldom did the Vandal condescendTo that poor drudge which monarchs call a friend!
And yet Astutio was a man of worth68Before the brain had reason'd out the heart;But now he learned to look upon the earthAs peddling hucksters look upon the mart;Took souls for wares, and conscience for a till;And damn'd his fame to serve his master's will.
Much lore he had in men, and states, and things,69And kept his memory mapp'd in prim precision,With histories, laws, and pedigrees of kings,And moral saws, which ran through each division,All neatly colour'd with appropriate hue—The histories black, the morals heavenly blue!
But state-craft, mainly, was his pride and boast;70"The golden medium" was his guiding star,Which means "move on until you're uppermost,And then things can't be better than they are!"Brief, in two rules he summ'd the ends of man—"Keep all you have, and try for all you can!"
While these conferr'd, fair Arthur wistfully71Look'd from the lattice of his stately room;The rainbow spann'd the ocean of the sky,An arch of glory in the midst of gloom;So light from dark by lofty souls is won,And on the rain-cloud they reflect the sun.
As such, perchance, his thought, the snow-white dove,72Which at the threshold of the Vandal's towersHad left his side, came circling from above,Athwart the rainbow and the sparkling showers,Flew through the open lattice, paused, and sprungWhere on the wall the abandon'd armour hung;
Hover'd above the lance, the mail, the crest,73Then back to Arthur, and with querulous cries,Peck'd at the clasp that bound the flowing vest,Chiding his dalliance from the arm'd emprize,So Arthur deem'd; and soon from head to heelBlazed War's dread statue, sculptured from the steel.
Then through the doorway flew the wingèd guide,74Skimm'd the long gallery, shunn'd the thronging hall,And, through deserted posterns, led the strideOf its arm'd follower to the charger's stall;Loud neigh'd the destrier[7]at the welcome clangAnd drowsy horseboys into service sprang.
Though threaten'd danger well the prince divined,75He deem'd it churlish in ungracious hasteThus to depart, nor thank a host so kind;But when the step the courteous thought retraced,With breast and wing the dove opposed his way,And warn'd with scaring scream the rash delay.
The King reluctant yields. Now in the court76Paws with impatient hoof the barbèd steed;Now yawn the sombre portals of the fort;Creaks the hoarse drawbridge;—now the walls are freed.Through dun woods hanging o'er the ocean tide,Glimmers the steel, and gleams the angel-guide.
An opening glade upon the headland's prow77Sudden admits the ocean and the day.Lo! the waves cleft before the gilded prow,Where the tall war-ship, towering, sweeps to bay.Why starts the King?—High over mast and sail,The Saxon Horse rides ghastly in the gale!
Grateful to heaven, and heaven's plumed messenger,78He raised his reverent eyes, then shook the rein:Bounded the barb, disdainful of the spur,Clear'd the steep cliff, and scour'd along the plain.Still, while he sped, the swifter wings that leadSeem to rebuke for sloth the swiftening steed.
Nor cause unmeet for grateful thought, I ween,79Had the good King; nor vainly warn'd the bird;Nor idly fled the steed; as shall be seen,If, where the Vandal and his friend conferr'd,Awhile our path retracing, we relateWhat craft deems guiltless when the craft of state.
"Sire," quoth Astutio, "well I comprehend80Your cause for grief; the seedsman breaks the groundFor the new plant; new thrones that would extendTheir roots, must loosen all the earth around;For trees and thrones no rule than this more true,What most disturbs the old best serves the new.
"Thus all ways wise to push your princely son81Under the soil of Cymri's ancient stem;And if the ground the thriving plant had won,What prudent man will plants that thrive condemn?Sir, in your move a master hand is seen,Your well play'd bishop caught both tower and queen."
"And now checkmate!" the wretched sire exclaims,82With watering eyes, and mouth that water'd too."Nay," quoth the sage; "a match means many games,Replace the pieces, and begin anew.You want this Cymrian's crown—the want is just."—"But how to get it?"—"Sir, with ease, I trust.
"The witch is married—better that than burn83(A well-known text—to witches not applied);But let that pass:—great sir, to Anglia turn,And mate your Vandal with a Saxon bride.Her dower," cried Ludovick, "the dower's the thing.""The lands and sceptre of the Cymrian King."
Then to that anxious sire the learned man84Bared the large purpose latent in his speech;O'er Britain's gloomy history glibly ran;Anglia's new kingdoms, he described them each;But most himself to Mercia he addresses,For Mercia's king, great man, hath two princesses!
Long on this glowing theme enlarged the sage,85And turn'd, return'd, and turn'd it o'er again;Thus when a mercer would your greed engageIn some fair silk, or cloth of comely grain,He spreads it out—upholds it to the day,Then sighs "So cheap, too!"—and your soul gives way.
He show'd the Saxon, hungering to devour86The last unconquer'd realm the Cymrian boasts;He dwelt at length on Mercia's gathering power,Swell'd, year by year, from Elbe's unfailing hosts.Then proved how Mercia scarcely could retainBeneath the sceptre what the sword might gain.
"For Mercia's vales from Cymri's hills are far,87And Mercian warriors hard to keep afield;And men fresh conquer'd stormy subjects are;What can't be held 'tis no great loss to yield;And still the Saxon might secure his end,If where the foe had reign'd he left the friend.
"Nay, what so politic in Mercia's king88As on that throne a son-in-law to place?"While thus they saw their birds upon the wingEre hatched the egg,—as is the common caseWith large capacious minds, the natural heirsOf that vast property—the things not theirs!
In comes a herald—comes with startling news:89"A Saxon chief has anchor'd in the bay,From Mercia's king ambassador, and suesThe royal audience ere the close of day."The wise old men upon each other stare,"While monarchs counsel, thus the saints prepare,"
Astutio murmur'd, with a pious smile.90"Admit the noble Saxon," quoth the King.The two laugh out, and rub their palms, the whileThe herald speeds the ambassador to bring;And soon a chief, fair-hair'd, erect, and tall,With train and trumpet, strides along the hall.
Upon his wrist a falcon, bell'd, he bore;91Leash'd at his heels six bloodhounds grimly stalk'd;A broad round shield was slung his breast before;The floors reclang'd with armour as he walk'd;He gained the dais; his standard-bearer spreadBroadly the banner o'er his helmèd head,
And thrice the tromp his blazon'd herald woke,92And hail'd Earl Harold from the Mercian king.Full on the Vandal gazed the earl, and spoke:"Greeting from Crida, Woden's heir, I bring,And these plain words:—'The Saxon's steel is bare,Red harvests wait it—will the Vandal share?
"'Hengist first chased the Briton from the vale;93Crida would hound the Briton from the hill;Stern hands have loosed the Pale Horse on the gale;The Horse shall halt not till the winds are still.Be ours your foemen,—be your foemen shown,And we in turn will smite them as our own.
"'We need allies—in you allies we call;94Your shores oppose the Cymrian's mountain sway;Your armèd men stand idle in your hall;Your vessels rot within your crowded bay:Send three full squadrons to the Mercian bands—Send seven tall war-ships to the Cymrian lands.
"'If this you grant, as from the old renown95Of Vandal valour, Saxon men believe,Our arms will solve all question to your crown;If not, the heirs you banish we receive;But one rude maxim Saxon bluntness knows—We serve our friends, who are not friends are foes!
"'Thus speaks King Crida.'" Not the manner much96Of that brief speech wise Ludovick admired;But still the matter did so nearly touchThe great state-objects recently desired,That the sage brows dismiss'd in haste the frown,And lips sore-smiling gulp'd resentment down.
Fair words he gave, and friendly hints of aid,97And pray'd the envoy in his halls to rest;And more, in truth, to please the earl had said,But that the sojourn of the earlier guest(For not the parting of the Cymrian known)Forbade his heart too plainly to be shown.
But ere a long and oily speech had closed,98Astutio, who the hall, when it begun,Had left, to seek the prince (whom he proposed,If yet the tidings to his ear had wonOf his foe's envoy, by some smooth pretextTo lull), came back with visage much perplext—
And whisper'd Ludovick—"The King has fled!"99The Vandal stammer'd, stared, but versed in allThe quick resources of a wily head,That out of evil still a good could call,He did but pause, with more effect to wingThe stone that chance thus fitted to his sling.
"Saxon," he said, "thus far we had premised,100And if still wavering, not our heart in fault.Three days ago, the Cymrian king, disguised,First drank our cup, and tasted of our salt,And hence our zeal to aid you we represt,Deeming your foe was still the Vandal's guest.
"Lo, while we speak, the saints the bond release;101Arthur hath gone from us;—the host is free.""Arthur—the Cymrian!" cried the envoy. "Peace;In deeds, not words, men's love the Saxons see:Gone!—whither wends he? But a word I need—Leave to the rest my bloodhounds and my steed."
Dumb sate the Vandal, dumb with fear and shame:102No slave to virtue, but its shade was he;A tower of strength is in an honest name—'Tis wise to seem what oft 'tis dull to be!A kingly host a kingly guest betray!The chafing Saxon brook'd not that delay—
But turn'd his sparkling eyes behind, and saw103His knights and squires with zeal as fierce inflamed,And out he spoke,—"The hospitable lawWe will not trench, whate'er the guest hath claim'dLet the host yield! forgive, that, hotly stirr'd,His course I question'd; I retract the word.
"If on your hearth he stands, protect; within104Your realm if wandering, guard him as you may;This hearth not ours, nor this our realm;—no sinTo chase our foeman, whatsoe'er his way:Up spear—forth sword! to selle each Saxon man—Unleash the warhounds—stay us those who can!"
Loud rang the armèd tumult in the hall;105Rush'd to the doors the Saxon's fiery band;Yell'd the gaunt bloodhounds loosen'd from the thrall;Steeds neigh'd; leapt forth the falchion to the hand;Low on the earth the bloodhounds track'd the scent,And where they guided there the hunters went.
Amazed the Vandal with his friend debates106What course were best in such extremes to choose;Nicely they weigh;—the Saxons pass the gates:Finely refine;—the chase its prey pursues.And while the chase pursues, to him, whose wayThe dove directs, well pleased, returns the lay.
Twilight was on the earth, when paused the King107Lone by the beach of far-resounding seas;Rock upon rock, behind, a Titan ring,Closed round a gorge o'erhung with breathless trees,A horror of still umbrage; and, before,Wave-hollow'd caves arch'd, ruinous, the shore.
Column and vault, and seaweed-dripping domes,108Long vistas opening through the streets of dark,Seem'd like a city's skeleton; the homesOf giant races vanish'd since the arkRested on Ararat: from side to sideMoan the lock'd waves that ebb not with the tide.
Here, path forbid; where, length'ning up the land,109The deep gorge stretches to a night of pine,Veer the white wings; and there the slacken'd handGuides the tired steed; deeplier the shades decline;Dull'd with each step into the darker gloomFollows the ocean's hollow-sounding boom.
Sudden starts back the steed, with bristling mane110And nostrils snorting fear; from out the shadeLoom the vast columns of a roofless fane,Meet for some god whom savage man hath made:A mighty pine-torch on the altar glow'dAnd lit the goddess of the grim abode—
So that the lurid idol, from its throne,111Glared on the wanderer with a stony eye;The King breathed quick the Christian orison,Spurr'd the scared barb, and pass'd abhorrent by—Nor mark'd a figure on the floor reclined:It watch'd, it rose, it crept, it dogg'd behind.
Three days, three nights, within that dismal shrine,112Had couch'd that man, and hunger'd for his prey.Chieftain and priest of hordes that from the RhineHad track'd in carnage thitherwards their way;Fell souls that still maintain'd their rites of yore,And hideous altars rank with human gore.
By monstrous Oracles a coming foe,113Whose steps appal his gods, hath been foretold;The fane must fall unless the blood shall flow;Therefore three days, three nights he watch'd;—beholdAt last the death-torch of the blazing pineDarts on the foe the lightning of the shrine!
Stealthily on, amidst the brushwood, crept114With practised foot and unrelaxing eye,The steadfast Murder;—where the still leaf sleptThe still leaf stirr'd not: as it glided byThe mosses gave no echo; not a breath!Nature was hush'd as if in league with Death!
As moved the man, so, on the opposing side115Of the deep gorge, with purpose like his own,Did steps as noiseless to the blood-feast glide;And as the man before his idol's throneHad watch'd,—so watch'd, since daylight left the air,A giant wolf within its leafy lair.
Whether the blaze allured, or hunger stung,116There still had cower'd and crouch'd the beast of prey;With lurid eyes unwinking, spell-bound, clungTo the near ridge that faced the torchlit way;As the steed pass'd, it rose! On either side,Here glides the wild beast, there the man doth glide.
But all unconscious of the double foe,117Paused Arthur, where his resting-place the doveSeem'd to select,—his couch a mound below;A bowering beech his canopy above:From his worn steed the barded mail released,And left it, reinless, to its herbage-feast.
Then from his brow the mighty helm unbraced,118And from his breast the hauberk's heavy load;On the tree's trunk the trophied arms he placed,And, ere to rest the weary limbs bestow'd,Thrice sign'd the cross the fiends of night to scare,And guarded helpless sleep with potent prayer.
Then on the moss-grown couch he laid him down,119Fearless of night and hopeful for the morn:On Slumber's lap the head without a crownForgot the gilded trouble it had worn;The Warrior slept—the browsing charger stray'd—The dove, unsleeping, watch'd amidst the shade.
And now, on either hand the dreaming King120Death halts to strike: the crouching wild beast, here,From the close crag prepares the rushing spring;There, from the thicket creeping, near and near,Steals the wild man, and listens for a sound—Lifts the pale steel, and gathers for the bound.
But what befell? O thou, whose gentle heart121Lists, scornful not, this undiurnal rhyme;If, as thy steps to busier life depart,Still in thine ear rings low the haunting chime,When leisure suits once more forsake the throng,Call childhood back, and redemand the song.