As the first impulsive push went, so the fall went circling round,
Till the knights, each prone on each like cards, lay panting on the ground.
"Certes!" said the good King Arthur, soon as he had breath to speak,
And had wiped the dust from off his draggled beard and pallid cheek,
"Certes! These be great adventures, such as I remember not,
Ever since the death of Merlin, to have come to Camelot;
One 'Seat Perilous' he fashioned, when he framed this board for me;
But, if thus it takes to moving, perilous each seat will be.
Doth its wild unwonted motion then portend some dire mishap?
Doth some hidden danger threaten to our crown?"—A sudden rap