Arthur is a tarnished crown,

High Gawain a broken spear,

Percival a riven shield;

They, who taught the world to yield,

Closed with death and lost the field,

Stricken by the last despair:

Launcelot is but a name

Blown about the winds of shame;

Surely God has quenched the flame

That burned men's souls for Guenevere.