To plenty with the blessed hopes of earth,

And all of this I owe unto thy favor.

My thunder-clouds are past, my future clear

As yon, blue summer sky. No evil lurks

In secret for to strike at this my glory,

Unless a bolt fell from yon dazzling blue!

[Thunder heard in the distance—Arthur staggers back

A portent! A portent!

Merlin. ’Tis nought, O King, but gathering thunderheads

About the thick, close heatings of the west,