SIR PALAMEDES, THE SARACEN KNIGHT
And smote his bosom murderous.
His nails like eagles’ claws were grown ;
His eyes were wild and dull; but thus
Sir Lancelot spake: “Thy deeds atone
By knightly devoir!” He returned
That “While the land was overgrown
With giant, fiend, and ogre burned
My sword ; but now the Paynim bars
Are broke, and men to virtue turned :
Therefore I sit upon the scars
Amid my beard, even as the sun
Sits in the company of the stars!”
Then Lancelot bade this deed be done,
The achievement of the Questing Beast.
Which when he spoke that holy one
Rose up, and gat him to the east
With Lancelot; when as they drew
Unto the palace and the feast
He put his littlest finger to
The dwarf, who rose to upper air,
Piercing the far eternal blue
Beyond the reach of song or prayer.
Then did Sir Palamede amend
His nakedness, his horrent hair,
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