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a son of Gorlois he,

      Or else the child of Anton, and no king,

      Or else baseborn." Yet Merlin through his craft,

      And while the people clamoured for a king,

      Had Arthur crowned; but after, the great lords

      Banded, and so brake out in open war.'

      Then while the King debated with himself

      If Arthur were the child of shamefulness,

      Or born the son of Gorlois, after death,

      Or Uther's son, and born before his time,

      Or whether there were truth in anything

      Said by these three, there came to Cameliard,

      With Gawain and young Modred, her two sons,

      Lot's wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent;

      Whom as he could, not as he would, the King

      Made feast for, saying, as they sat at meat,

      'A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas.

      Ye come from Arthur's court. Victor his men

      Report him! Yea, but ye—think ye this king—

      So many those that hate him, and so strong,

      So few his knights, however brave they be—

      Hath body enow to hold his foemen down?'

      'O King,' she cried, 'and I will tell thee: few,

      Few, but all brave, all of one mind with him;

      For I was near him when the savage yells

      Of Uther's peerage died, and Arthur sat

      Crowned on the dais, and his warriors cried,

      "Be thou the king, and we will work thy will

      Who love thee." Then the King in low deep tones,

      And simple words of great authority,

      Bound them by so strait vows to his own self,

      That when they rose, knighted from kneeling, some

      Were pale as at the passing of a ghost,

      Some flushed, and others dazed, as one who wakes

      Half-blinded at the coming of a light.

      'But when he spake and cheered his Table Round

      With large, divine, and comfortable words,

      Beyond my tongue to tell thee—I beheld

      From eye to eye through all their Order flash

      A momentary likeness of the King:

      And ere it left their faces, through the cross

      And those around it and the Crucified,

      Down from the casement over Arthur, smote

      Flame-colour, vert and azure, in three rays,

      One falling upon each of three fair queens,

      Who stood in silence near his throne, the friends

      Of Arthur, gazing on him, tall, with bright

      Sweet faces, who will help him at his need.

      'And there I saw mage Merlin, whose vast wit

      And hundred winters are but as the hands

      Of loyal vassals toiling for their liege.

      'And near him stood the Lady of the Lake,

      Who knows a subtler magic than his own—

      Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful.

      She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword,

      Whereby to drive the heathen out: a mist

      Of incense curled about her, and her face

      Wellnigh was hidden in the minster gloom;

      But there was heard among the holy hymns

      A voice as of the waters, for she dwells

      Down in a deep; calm, whatsoever storms

      May shake the world, and when the surface rolls,

      Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord.

      'There likewise I beheld Excalibur

      Before him at his crowning borne, the sword

      That rose from out the bosom of the lake,

      And Arthur rowed across and took it—rich

      With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt,

      Bewildering heart and eye—the blade so bright

      That men are blinded by it—on one side,

      Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world,

      "Take me," but turn the blade and ye shall see,

      And written in the speech ye speak yourself,

      "Cast me away!" And sad was Arthur's face

      Taking it, but old Merlin counselled him,

      "Take thou and strike! the time to cast away

      Is yet far-off." So this great brand the king

      Took, and by this will beat his foemen down.'

      Thereat Leodogran rejoiced, but thought

      To sift his doubtings to the last, and asked,

      Fixing full eyes of question on her face,

      'The swallow and the swift are near akin,

      But thou art closer to this noble prince,

      Being his own dear sister;' and she said,

      'Daughter of Gorlois and Ygerne am I;'

      'And therefore Arthur's sister?' asked the King.

      She answered, 'These be secret things,' and signed

      To those two sons to pass, and let them be.

      And Gawain went, and breaking into song

      Sprang out, and followed by his flying hair

      Ran like a colt, and leapt at all he saw:

      But Modred laid his ear beside the doors,

      And there half-heard; the same that afterward

      Struck for the throne, and striking found his doom.

      And then the Queen made answer, 'What know I?

      For dark my mother was in eyes and hair,

      And dark in hair and eyes am I; and dark

      Was Gorlois, yea and dark was Uther too,

      Wellnigh to blackness; but this King is fair

      Beyond the race of Britons and of men.

      Moreover, always in my mind I hear

      A cry from out the dawning of my life,

      A mother weeping, and I hear her say,

      "O that ye had some brother, pretty one,

      To guard thee on the rough ways of the world."'

      'Ay,' said the King, 'and hear ye such a cry?

      But when did Arthur chance upon thee first?'

      'O King!' she cried, 'and I will tell thee true:

      He found me first when

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