"Fair foe, and courteous," answered Arthur, moved53
By that chivalric speech, "too well the might
Of Mercia's famous Harold have I proved,
To deem it shame to yield as knight to knight;
But a king's sword is by a nation given;
Who guards a people holds his post from heaven.
"This freedom which thou ask'st me to resign54
Than life is dearer; were it but to show
That with my people thinks their King!—divine
Through me all Cymri!—Streams shall cease to flow,
Yon sun to shine, before to Saxon strife
One Cymrian yields his freedom save with life.
"And so the saints assoil ye of my blood;55
Return;—the rest we leave unto our cause
And the just Heavens!" All silent, Harold stood
And his heart smote him. Now, amidst that pause,
Arthur look'd up, and in the calm above
Behold a falcon wheeling round the dove!
For thus it chanced; the bird which Harold bore56
(As was the Saxon wont), whate'er his way,
Had, in the woodland, slipp'd the hood it wore,
Unmark'd; and, when the bloodhounds bark'd at bay,
Lured by the sound, had risen on the wing,
Over the conflict vaguely hovering—
Till when the dove had left, to guide, her lord,57
It caught the white plumes glancing where they went;
High in large circles to its height it soar'd,
Swoop'd;—the light pinion foil'd the fierce descent;
The falcon rose rebounding to the prey;
And closed escape—confronting still the way.
In vain the dove to Arthur seeks to flee;58
Round her and round, with every sweep more near,
The swift destroyer circles rapidly,
Fixing keen eyes that fascinate with fear,
A moment—and a shaft, than wing more fleet,
Hurls the pierced falcon at the Saxon's feet.
Down heavily it fell;—a moment stirr'd59
Its fluttering plumes, and roll'd its glazing eye;
But ev'n before the breath forsook the bird,
Ev'n while the arrow whistled through the sky,
Rush'd from the grove which screen'd the marksman's hand,
With yell and whoop, a wild barbarian band—
Half clad, with hides of beast, and shields of horn,60
And huge clubs cloven from the knotted pine;
And spears like those by Thor's great children borne,
When Cæsar bridged with marching[4] steel the Rhine,
Countless they start, as if from every tree
Had sprung the uncouth defending deity;
They pass the King, low bending as they pass;61
Bear back the startled Harold on their way;
And roaring onward, mass succeeding mass,
Snatch the hemm'd Saxons from the King's survey.
On Arthur's crest the dove refolds its wing;
On Arthur's ear a voice comes murmuring,—
"Man, have I served thy God?" and Arthur saw62
The priest beside him, leaning on his bow;
"Not till, in all, thou hast fulfill'd the law—
Thou hast saved the friend—now aid to shield the foe;"
And as a ship, cleaving the sever'd tides,
Right through the sea of spears the hero rides.