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Page 1 of 41910 · PDF PAGE 473
SIR PALAMEDES, THE SARACEN KNIGHT God save thee, woeful Palamede! The questing of the Beast is loud Within thy ear. By Goddes reed, Thou hast won the tilt from all the crowd ! Within thy proper bowels it sounds Mighty and musical at need, As if a thirty couple hounds Quested within thee, Palamede! Now, then, he grasps the desperate truth He hath toiled these many years to see, Hath wasted strength, hath wasted youth— He was the Beast; the Beast was he! He rises from the cave of death, Runs to the sea with shining face To know at last the Bounte…
1910 · PDF PAGE 375
SIR PALAMEDES, THE SARACEN KNIGHT xxv, Upon the Pacific Ocean, he, thinking that It is not-Self, throweth himself into the sea. But the Beast setteth him ashore. xxvi. Rowed by Kanakas to Japan, he praiseth the stability of Fuji-Yama. But, an earthquake arising, the pilgrims are swallowed up. xxvii. Upon the Yang-tze-kiang he contemplateth immortal change. Yet, perceiving that the changes themselves constitute stability, he is again baulked, and biddeth his men bear him to Egypt. xxviii. In an Egyptian temple he hath performed the Bloody Sacrif…
1910 · PDF PAGE 434
…nd arms a-glittering glance And laugh upon the mossy mead. Now winds the horn of Palamede, As far upon the horizon He spies the Questing Beast a-feed. With loyal craft and honest guile They spread their ranks for many a mile. For when the Beast hath heard the horn He practiseth his ancient wile, And many a myriad beasts invade The stillness of that arméd glade. Now every knight to rest hath borne His lance, and given the accolade, And run upon a beast: but they Slip from the fatal point away And course about, confusing all That gallant concours…
1910 · PDF PAGE 432
56 XX Srp PALAMEDE hath reasoned out Beyond the shadow of a doubt That this his Questing Beast is one; For were it Beasts, he must suppose An earlier Beast to father those. So all the tracks of herds that run Into the forest he discards, And only turns his dark regards On single prints, on marks unique. Sir Palamede doth now attain Unto a wide and grassy plain, Whereon he spies the thing to seek. Thereat he putteth spur to horse And runneth him a random course, The Beast a-questing aye before. But praise to good Sir Palamede! *Hath gotten him a…
1910 · PDF PAGE 376
SIR PALAMEDES, THE SARACEN KNIGHT Beast. Standing up, that he may enjoy the reward, he findeth another answer to the riddle. Yet abideth in the quest. xxxviii. Sir Palamede is confronted by a stranger knight, whose arms are his own, as also his features, This knight mocketh Sir Palamede for an impudent pretender, and impersonator of the chosen knight. Sir Palamede in all humility alloweth that there is no proof possible, and offereth ordeal of battle, in which the stranger is slain, Sir Palamede heweth him into the smallest dust without pity, x…
1910 · PDF PAGE 463
…CEN KNIGHT To breathe fond prayers ; and (marry !) if Man’s soul were measured by his sighs He need not linger to attain. Nay! while the Beast squats there, above Him, smiling on him; as he vows Wonderful deeds and fruitless flowers, He grows so maudlin in his love That even the knaves of his own house Mock at him in their merry hours. “God’s death!” raged Palamede, not wroth But irritated, “laugh ye so? Am I a jape for scullions ?” His curse came in a flaky froth. He seized a club, with blow on blow Breaking the knave’s unreverent sconce! “Tho…
1910 · PDF PAGE 374
THE HIGH HISTORY OF GOOD xiii, At Naples he thinketh of the Beast as author of Evil, because Free of Will. The Beast, starting up, is slain by him with a poisoned arrow ; but at the moment of Its death It is reborn from the knight’s own belly. xiv, At Rome he meeteth a red robber in a Hat, who speaketh nobly of It as of a king-dove-lamb. He chaseth and slayeth it ; it proves but a child’s toy. xv. In a Tuscan grove he findeth, from the antics of a Satyr, that the Gods still dwell with men, Mistaking orgasm for ecstasy, he is found ridiculous. x…
1910 · PDF PAGE 433
SIR PALAMEDES, THE SARACEN KNIGHT With that the Beast hopes no escape, Dissolveth all his lordly shape, Splitteth him sudden into two. Sir Palamede in fury runs Unto the nearer beast, that shuns The shock, and splits, and splits again, Until the baffled warrior sees A myriad myriad swarms of these A-questing over all the plain. The good knight reins his charger in. “ Now, by the faith of Paladin! The subtle quest at last I ken.” Rides off to Camelot to plight The faith of many a noble knight, Sir Palamede the Saracen. 57
1910 · PDF PAGE 421
…y thy venerable age I charge thee this my riddle ree.” Then said that gentle eremite: “This task is easy unto me! Know then the Questing Beast aright! One is the Beast, the Questing one: And one with one is two, Sir Knight! Yet these are one in two, and none Disjoins their substance (mark me well !), Confounds their persons. Rightly run Their attributes: immeasurable, Incomprehensibundable, Unspeakable, inaudible, 45
1910 · PDF PAGE 444
…g his body from the prow. Anend? Alas! on silver sand Open his eyes; the surf-rings roar. What snorts there, swimming from the land? The Beast that brought him to the shore! “O Beast!” quoth purple Palamede, “ A morister strange as Thou am I. I could not live before, indeed; And now I cannot even die! Who chose me, of the Table Round By miracle acclaimed the chief ? Here, waterlogged and muscle-bound, Marooned upon a coral reef!”
1910 · PDF PAGE 441
XXIV “ One thing at least ” (quoth Palamede), “Beyond dispute my soul can see: This Questing Beast that mocks my need Dwelleth in deep obscurity.” So delveth he a darksome hole Within the bowels of Etna dense, Closing the harbour of his soul To all the pirate-ships of sense. And now the questing of the Beast Rolls in his very self, and high Leaps his whole heart in fiery feast On the expected ecstasy. But echoing from the central roar Reverberates many a mournful moan, And shapes more mystic than before Baffle its formless monotone! Ah! mocks h…
1910 · PDF PAGE 411
…Sir Palamede his quest Pursues withouten let or rest. Seeing the evil mountain be, Remembering all his evil years, He knows the Questing Beast runs free— Author of Evil, then, is he! Whereat immediate resounds The noise he hath sought so long: appears There quest a thirty couple hounds Within its belly as it bounds. Lifting his eyes, he sees at last The beast he seeks: ’tis like an hart. Ever it courseth far and fast. Sir Palamede is sore aghast, 35
1910 · PDF PAGE 439
XXIII Now still he holdeth argument : “So grand a Beast must house him well ; Hence, now beseemeth me frequent Cathedral, palace, citadel.” So, riding fast among the flowers Far off, a Gothic spire he spies, That like a gladiator towers Its spear-sharp splendour to the skies. The people cluster round, acclaim : “Sir Knight, good knight, thy quest is won. Here dwells the Beast in orient flame, Spring-sweet, and swifter than the sun!” Sir Palamede the Saracen Spurs to the shrine, afire to win The end; and all the urgent men Throng with him eloque…
1910 · PDF PAGE 466
go XXXV “Yea!” quoth the knight, “TI rede the spell. This Beast is the Unknowable. I seek in Heaven, I seek in Hell; Ever he mocks me. Yet, methinks, I have the riddle of the Sphinx. For were I keener than the lynx I should not see within my mind One thought that is not in its kind In sooth That Beast that lurks behind : And in my quest his questing seems The authentic echo of my dreams, The proper thesis of my themes! Iknow him? Still he answers: No! I know him not? Maybe—and lo! He is the one sole thing I know! Nay! who knows not is different…
1910 · PDF PAGE 422
…e, hotototon spells The holy word otototon.” The poor Sir Palamedes quells His rising spleen ; he doubts his ears. “ How may I catch the Beast?” he yells. The smiling sage rebukes his fears: ‘Tis easier than all, Sir Knight! By simple faith the Beast appears.
1910 · PDF PAGE 454
78 XXX STARRED is the blackness of the sky; Wide is the sweep of the cold plain Where good Sir Palamede doth lie, Keen on the Beast-slot once again. All day he rode; all night he lay With eyes wide open to the stars, Seeking in many a secret way The key to unlock his prison bars. Beneath him, hark! the marvel sounds! The Beast that questeth horribly. As if a thirty couple hounds Are in his belly questeth he. Beneath him? Heareth he aright? He leaps to’s feet—a wonder shews: Steep dips a stairway from the light To what obscurity God knows. Still…
1910 · PDF PAGE 377
THE HIGH HISTORY OF GOOD SIR PALAMEDES THE SARACEN KNIGHT; AND OF HIS FOLLOWING OF THE QUESTING BEAST
1910 · PDF PAGE 446
…n crew, That cried and cursed on one another. Aghast he standeth, Palamede ! For twinned with Earthquake laughs her brother The Questing Beast. As Goddes reed Sweats blood for sin, so now the heart Of the good knight begins to bleed. Of all the ruinous shafts that dart Within his liver, this hath plied The most intolerable smart. “ By Goddes wounds!” the good knight cried, “What is this quest, grown daily dafter, Where nothing—nothing—may abide ? Westward!” They fly, but rolling after Echoes the Beast’s unsatisfied And inextinguishable laughter…
1910 · PDF PAGE 460
…ieking, from that dreadful figure. But when he came to any town They caged him for a lunatic. Quod he: ‘‘ Would God I had the trick! The beast escaped from my devices ; I will the same. The bars are thick, But I am strong.” He wrenched in vain; Then—what is this? What wild, sharp strain Smites on the air? The prison smashes. Hark! ’tis the Questing Beast again !
1910 · PDF PAGE 371
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT THE HIGH HISTORY OF GOOD SIR PALAMEDES THE SARACEN KNIGHT AND OF HIS FOLLOWING OF THE QUESTING BEAST BY ALEISTER CROWLEY RIGHTLY SET FORTH IN RIME