The gentle King well versed in woman's heart,116
And all the vestal thoughts that tend its shrine,
On Lancelot smiled—and answer'd, "Maid, depart;
Though o'er our roofs the thunder clouds combine,
Yet love shall guard, whatever war betide,
The Saxon's daughter—or the Cymrian's bride."
A stately ship from glittering Spezia bore117
To Cymrian ports the lovers from the King;
Then on, the Seeker of the Shield, once more,
With patient soul pursued the heavenly wing.
Wild though that crew, his heart enthralls their own;—
The great are kings wherever they are thrown.
Nought of that mystery which the Spirit's priest,118
True Love, draws round the aisles behind the veil,
Could Arthur bare to that light joyous breast,—
Life hath its inward as its outward tale,
Our lips reveal our deeds,—our sufferings shun;
What we have felt, how few can tell to one!
The triple task—the sword not sought in vain,119
The shield yet hidden in the caves of Lok,
Of these spoke Arthur,—"Certes," quoth Gawaine,
When the King ceased—"strange legends of a rock
Where a fierce Dwarf doth guard a shield of light,
Oft have I heard my pigmy friends recite;
"Permit me now your royal limbs to wrap120
In these warm relics of departed bears;
And while from Morpheus you decoy a nap,
My skill the grain shall gather from the tares.
The Pigmy tongue my erudite pursuits
Have traced ad unguem—to the nasal roots!"
Slumbers the King—slumber his ghastly crew:121
How long they know not, guess not—night and dawn
Long since commingled in one livid hue:
Like that long twilight o'er the portals drawn,
Behind whose threshold spreads eternity!
When the sleep burst, and sudden in the sky
Stands the great Sun!—Like the first glorious breath122
Of Freedom to the slave, like Hope upon
The hush of woe, or through the mists of death
A cheerful Angel—comes to earth the Sun!
Ice still on land—still vapour in the air,
But light—the victor Lord—but Light is there!
On siege-worn cities, when their war is spent,123
From the far hill as, gleam on gleam, arise
The spears of some great aiding armament—
Grow the dim splendours, broadening up the skies,
Till bright and brighter, the sublime array
Flings o'er the world the banners of the Day!
Behold them where they kneel! the starry King,124
The dwarfs of night, the giants of the sea!
Each with the other linked in solemn ring,
Too blest for words!—Man's sever'd Family,
All made akin once more beneath those eyes
Which on their Father smiled in Paradise!