Idylls of the King | Page 4

arms than he,

She saw him not, or marked not, if
she saw,
One among many, though his face was bare.
But Arthur,

looking downward as he past,
Felt the light of her eyes into his life

Smite on the sudden, yet rode on, and pitched
His tents beside the
forest. Then he drave
The heathen; after, slew the beast, and felled

The forest, letting in the sun, and made
Broad pathways for the
hunter and the knight
And so returned.
For while he lingered there,
A doubt that ever smouldered in the
hearts
Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm
Flashed forth
and into war: for most of these,
Colleaguing with a score of petty
kings,
Made head against him, crying, 'Who is he
That he should
rule us? who hath proven him
King Uther's son? for lo! we look at
him,
And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice,
Are like to
those of Uther whom we knew.
This is the son of Gorlois, not the
King;
This is the son of Anton, not the King.'
And Arthur, passing thence to battle, felt
Travail, and throes and
agonies of the life,
Desiring to be joined with Guinevere;
And
thinking as he rode, 'Her father said
That there between the man and
beast they die.
Shall I not lift her from this land of beasts
Up to my
throne, and side by side with me?
What happiness to reign a lonely
king,
Vext--O ye stars that shudder over me,
O earth that soundest
hollow under me,
Vext with waste dreams? for saving I be joined

To her that is the fairest under heaven,
I seem as nothing in the
mighty world,
And cannot will my will, nor work my work
Wholly,
nor make myself in mine own realm
Victor and lord. But were I
joined with her,
Then might we live together as one life,
And
reigning with one will in everything
Have power on this dark land to
lighten it,
And power on this dead world to make it live.'
Thereafter--as he speaks who tells the tale--
When Arthur reached a
field-of-battle bright

With pitched pavilions of his foe, the world

Was all so clear about him, that he saw
The smallest rock far on the
faintest hill,
And even in high day the morning star.
So when the

King had set his banner broad,
At once from either side, with
trumpet-blast,
And shouts, and clarions shrilling unto blood,
The
long-lanced battle let their horses run.
And now the Barons and the
kings prevailed,
And now the King, as here and there that war
Went
swaying; but the Powers who walk the world
Made lightnings and
great thunders over him,
And dazed all eyes, till Arthur by main
might,
And mightier of his hands with every blow,
And leading all
his knighthood threw the kings
Carados, Urien, Cradlemont of Wales,

Claudias, and Clariance of Northumberland,
The King
Brandagoras of Latangor,
With Anguisant of Erin, Morganore,
And
Lot of Orkney. Then, before a voice
As dreadful as the shout of one
who sees
To one who sins, and deems himself alone
And all the
world asleep, they swerved and brake
Flying, and Arthur called to
stay the brands
That hacked among the flyers, 'Ho! they yield!'
So
like a painted battle the war stood
Silenced, the living quiet as the
dead,
And in the heart of Arthur joy was lord.
He laughed upon his
warrior whom he loved
And honoured most. 'Thou dost not doubt me
King,
So well thine arm hath wrought for me today.'
'Sir and my
liege,' he cried, 'the fire of God
Descends upon thee in the battle-field:

I know thee for my King!' Whereat the two,
For each had warded
either in the fight,
Sware on the field of death a deathless love.
And
Arthur said, 'Man's word is God in man:
Let chance what will, I trust
thee to the death.'
Then quickly from the foughten field he sent
Ulfius, and Brastias, and
Bedivere,
His new-made knights, to King Leodogran,
Saying, 'If I
in aught have served thee well,
Give me thy daughter Guinevere to
wife.'
Whom when he heard, Leodogran in heart

Debating--'How should I
that am a king,
However much he holp me at my need,
Give my
one daughter saving to a king,
And a king's son?'--lifted his voice,
and called
A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom
He trusted all

things, and of him required
His counsel: 'Knowest thou aught of
Arthur's birth?'
Then spake the hoary chamberlain and said,
'Sir King, there be but
two old men that know:
And each is twice as old as I; and one
Is
Merlin, the wise man that ever served
King Uther through his magic
art; and one
Is Merlin's master (so they call him) Bleys,
Who taught
him magic, but the scholar ran
Before the master, and so far, that
Bleys,
Laid magic by, and sat him down, and wrote
All things and
whatsoever Merlin did
In one great annal-book, where after-years

Will learn the secret of our Arthur's birth.'
To whom the King Leodogran replied,
'O friend, had I been holpen
half as well
By this King Arthur as by thee today,
Then beast and
man had had their share of me:
But summon here before us yet once
more
Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere.'
Then, when they came before him, the King said,
'I have