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King Arthur in ignoble sloth Is sunk, and dalliance with his dame, Forgetful of his knightly oath, And careless of his kingly name. Befooled and cuckolded, the king Is yet the king, the king most high ; And on his life the hinges swing That close the door of chivalry. *Sblood! shall it sink, and rise no more, That blaze of Time, when men were men? That is thy question, warrior Sir Palamede the Saracen ! II
…l and gale. Whom God shall spare, ride, ride! (so springs The iron order). Let him fly On honour’s steed with honour’s wings To warn the king, lest honour die! Then to the fury of the blast Their fury adds a dreadful sting : The fatal die is surely cast. To save the king—to save the king ! Hail! horror of the midnight surge ! The storms of death, the lashing gust, The doubtful gleam of swords that urge Hot laughter with high-leaping lust!
… will not, stay!” “T know thy quest. Seek on in vain A golden hart with silver horns! Life springeth out of divers pains. What crown the King of Kings adorns? A crown of gems? A crown of thorns! The Questing Beast is like a king In face, and hath a pigeon’s wing And claw; its body is one fleece Of bloody white, a lamb’s in spring. Enough. Sir Knight, I give thee peace.”
…ide after stride with little pains Upon the lumbering, flapping thing. He stabs the lamb, and splits the brains Of that majestic-seeming king. He clips the wing and pares the claw— What turns to laughter all his joy, To wondering ribaldry his awe? The beast’s a mere mechanic toy, Fit to amuse an idle boy! 39
…hem tapering The cone of speechless sanctity. Up, up its slopes the pilgrims swing, Chanting their pagan gramarye Unto the dread volcano-king. “ Now, then, by Goddes reed!” quod he, “ Behold the secret of my quest In this far-famed stability| 69
…ars, and on his head a crown ; But on his shoulders drapes a pall Of velvet flowing sably down Above his vest of cramoisie. Now doth the king of high renown Demand him of his dignity. Whereat the dwarf begins to tell A quest of loftiest chivalry.
…dodendron forest-net, His body bloody with its leeches. Sternly he travelleth the crest Of a great mountain, far that reaches Toward the King-snows; the rains molest The knight, white wastes updriven of wind In sheets, in torrents, fiend-possessed, Up from the steaming plains of Ind. They cut his flesh, they chill his bones : Yet he feels naught; his mind is pinned To that one point where all the thrones Join to one lion-head of rock, Towering above all crests and cones 105
…st ” (he saith) “Ts not—at last |!—achieved and ended? Why taste I not the Bounteous Breath, Receive the Goodly Gift of Grace? Now, kind king-eagle (by God’s death !), Restore me to mine ancient place! I am advantaged nothing then!” Then swooped he from the Byss of Space, And set the knight amid the fen. “God!” quoth Sir Palamede, “that I Who have won nine should fail at ten! I set my all upon the die: There is no further trick to try. Call thrice accurséd above men Sir Palamede the Saracen!”
…! the soul that heareth them Is straightway healed of suffering. His fame runs through the land of Khem: They flock, the peasant and the king. There he works many a miracle: The blind see, and the cripples walk; Lepers grow clean ; sick folk grow well ; The deaf men hear, the dumb men talk. He casts out devils with a word; Circleth his wand, and dead men rise. No such a wonder hath been heard Since Christ our God’s sweet sacrifice. “Now, by the glad blood of our Lord!” Quoth Palamede, “ my heart is light. I am the chosen harpsichord Whereon God…
…terte up boldly all the rest, And sware to seek this goodly thing. But now the dwarf doth beat his breast, And speak on this wise to the king, That he should worthy knight be found Who with his hands the dwarf should bring By might one span from off the ground. Whereat they jeer, the dwarf so small, The knights so strong: the walls resound
…iled. All ways, each one I strove in, mocked me. If I quailed Or shirked, God knows. I have not won: That and no more I know. I failed.” King Arthur fell a-weeping. Then Merlin uprose, his face unveiled;
…, Beneath that pit of slippery stone. Yea! though he sees not anything, Nor hears, his subtle sense is ’ware That, lackeyed by the devil-king, The Beast—the Questing Beast—is there| So though his heart beats close with fear, Though horror grips his throat, he goes, Goes on to meet it, spear to spear, ; As good knight should, to face his foes. Nay! but the end is come. Black earth Belches that peerless Paladin Up from her gulphs—untimely birth! —Her horror could not hold him in! 79
…d knows ! Then on a sudden in the midst of them Is a swart god, from hoof to girdle a goat, Upon his brow the twelve-star diadem And the King’s Collar fastened on his throat. Thrill upon thrill courseth through Palamede. Life, life, pure life is bubbling in his blood. All youth comes back, all strength, all joy indeed Flaming within that throbbing spirit-flood! 103
… perceiveth Naught. Even this is, however, not the Beast. xii. Returning to Camelot to announce his failure, he maketh entrance into the King’s hall, whence he started out upon the quest. The Beast cometh nestling to him, All the knights attain the quest. The voice of Christ is heard: “Well done.” He sayeth that each failure is a step in the Path, The poet prayeth success therein for himself and his readers, viii
…t 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. xvi. Baiting for It with gilded corn in a moonlit vale of Spain, he findeth the bait stolen by vermin. xvii. In Crete a metaphysician weaveth a labyrinth. Sir Palamede compelleth him to pu…