BOOK XVI
LOHENGRIN
Now Anfortas and his Templars they suffered sore grief and pain,
And their true love in bondage held him, since he prayed them for death in vain;
And in sooth death had been his portion, save they wrought that the Grail he saw—
From the might of Its mystic virtue fresh life must he ever draw.
Then he spake to the knights of Monsalväsch, 'Of a sooth, were ye true of heart, 5
Ye had pitied ere this my sorrow, how long shall pain be my part?
If reward ye would have as deserving, then God give ye payment fair,
For ever was I your servant since the days that I harness bare.
Atonement in full have I made here for aught I have done of wrong
To ye, e'en tho' none had known it, and my penance endureth long! 10
If ye would not be held unfaithful, by the helmet and shield I bore,
And the bond of our common knighthood, release me from bondage sore!
For this of a truth must ye grant me, if ye do not the truth disdain,
I bare both as a knight undaunted, and fame thro' my deeds did gain.
For hill and vale have I ridden, and many a joust have run, 15
And with sword-play good from my foemen much hatred methinks, I won.
Yet with ye doth that count for little! Bereft of all joy am I;
Yet, cometh the Day of Judgment, my voice would I lift on high,
And in God's sight, I, one man only, at the last will accuse ye all,
If freedom ye fail to give me, and to Hell shall ye surely fall! 20
For in sooth ye should mourn my sorrow—From the first have ye seen the thing,
And ye know how it came upon me—Now I profit ye not as king,
And all too soon will ye think so, when thro' me ye have lost your soul—
Alas! why thus ill-entreat me? Ere this had I been made whole!'
And the knights from his grief had freed him, save they hope from the word must draw 25
That Trevrezent spake of aforetime, and that writ on the Grail he saw.
And once more would they wait his coming whose joy there had waxen weak,
And the hour that should bring them healing from the question his lips should speak.
Then the king of a wile bethought him, and fast would he close his eyes,
And four days long so he held them, when the knights, in their 'customedwise, 30
Before the Grail would bear him, if he said them or yea, or nay;
But his weakness so wrought upon him, as before the shrine he lay,
That his eyelids he needs must open, and against his will must live,
For the Grail held death far from him and fresh life must Its vision give.
And so was it with Anfortas till the day when Parzival 35
And Feirefis his brother, rode swift to Monsalväsch' hall;
And the time was near when the planet, its course in high heaven run,
Mars or Jupiter, glowing wrathful, its station had well-nigh won,
And the spot whence it took its journey—Ah! then was an evil day
That wrought ill to the wound of Anfortas, and the torment would have its way; 40
And maiden and knight must hearken as the palace rang with his cries,
And the help that no man might give him he besought with despairing eyes,
For past all aid was he wounded, and his knights could but share his grief—
Yet the tale saith he drew ever nearer who should bring him alone relief.
Then oft as the bitter anguish in its bondage the hero held, 45
The taint of the wound to banish, the hall was with sweetness filled,
For before him they spread on the carpet Terebinth, and odours fair
Of aromatic spices and sweet woods filled the scented air.
Teriak and precious Ambra, and methinks that their smell was sweet—
Cardamom, Jeroffel, Muscat, lay broken beneath the feet 50
Where'er one set foot on the carpet; and e'en as each footstep fell
Their perfume arose, and their freshness, of the venom o'ercame the smell.
And his fire was of Lignum aloe, as methinks ye have heard afore—
Of the horny skin of the viper had they fashioned the pillars four
That stood 'neath his couch—'Gainst the venom must his knights on the cushions strew 55
Powder of roots so precious, whose healing scent they knew.
Well stuffed, but unsewed, was the covering against which the monarch leant,
And the silk and the mattress 'neath it were of Palmât of Nouriente.
And the couch itself was yet richer, with many a precious stone
Was it decked, nor were others found there save the rarest of jewels alone; 60
And by Salamanders woven were the cords which the bed did bind,
Yea even the fastening 'neath it—Yet no joy might Anfortas find.
The couch on all sides was costly, (no man shall contend I ween
That he in the days of his lifetime a richer shall e'er have seen,)
'Twas precious alone from the virtue of the jewels and their magic power, 65
Would ye learn their names, then hearken, for we know them unto this hour.