FROM

THE COMING OF ARTHUR.

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON.

Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved
And honor'd most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth
And bring the Queen, and watch'd him from the gates;
And Lancelot past away among the flowers-

5 For then was latter. April- and return'd
Among the flowers, in May, with Guinevere.
To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint,
Chief of the church in Britain, and before
The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the King
10 That morn was married, while in stainless white,
The fair beginners of a nobler time,

And glorying in their vows and him, his knights
Stood round him, and rejoicing in his joy.
Far shone the fields of May thro' open door,
The sacred altar blossom'd white with May,
The Sun of May descended on their King,
They gazed on all earth's beauty in their Queen,
Roll'd incense, and there past along the hymns
A voice as of the waters, while the two

20 Sware at the shrine of Christ a deathless love:

And Arthur said, “Behold, thy doom is mine. Let chance what will, I love thee to the death!" To whom the Queen replied with drooping eyes, "King and my lord, I love thee to the death!" 25 And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake: "Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee, And all this Order of thy Table Round

Fulfil the boundless purpose of their King!"

So Dubric said; but when they left the shrine
Great lords from Rome before the portal stood,
In scornful stillness gazing as they past;

Then while they paced a city all on fire

5 With sun and cloth of gold, the trumpets blew, And Arthur's knighthood sang before the King:

10

"Blow trumpet, for the world is white with May! Blow trumpet, the long night hath roll'd away! Blow thro' the living world-'Let the King reign!'

"Shall Rome or Heathen rule in Arthur's realm? Flash brand and lance, fall battle-axe on helm,

Fall battle-axe, and flash brand; Let the King reign!

"Strike for the King and live! his knights have heard That God hath told the King a secret word.

15 Fall battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King reign!

"Blow trumpet! he will lift us from the dust. Blow trumpet! live the strength and die the lust! Clang battle-axe, and clash brand. Let the King reign!

"Strike for the King and die! and if thou diest,

20 The King is king, and ever wills the highest. Clang battle-axe, and clash brand. Let the King reign!

25

"Blow, for our Sun is mighty in his May!

Blow, for our Sun is mightier day by day!

Clang battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King reign!

"The King will follow Christ, and we the King, In whom high God hath breathed a secret thing. Fall battle-axe, and clash brand! Let the King reign!"

So sang the knighthood, moving to their hall. There at the banquet those great lords from Rome, The slowly-fading mistress of the world,

Strode in and claim'd their tribute as of yore.

5 But Arthur spake: "Behold for these have sworn
To wage my wars, and worship me their King;
The old order changeth, yielding place to new;
And we that fight for our fair father Christ,
Seeing that ye be grown too weak and old.
10 To drive the heathen from your Roman wall,
No tribute will we pay." So those great lords
Drew back in wrath, and Arthur strove with Rome.

And Arthur and his knighthood for a space Were all one will, and thro' that strength the King 15 Drew in the petty princedoms under him,

Fought, and in twelve great battles overcame

The heathen hordes, and made a realm and reign'd.

Historical:

HELPS TO STUDY.

This passage from "The Coming of Arthur" and the passage from "The Passing of Arthur," beginning on page 236, are taken from Tennyson's "Idylls of the King," which he dedicated to the memory of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.

In "The Coming of Arthur," Tennyson tells of the establishment of Arthur's kingdom, the formation of the Round Table and Arthur's marriage.

Before Arthur's reign, the strong overpowered the weak and took their lands. Fierce, lawless men built themselves strong castles, from which they went forth to rob and burn and slay. But when Arthur's knights went forth at the command of their king, all this was changed. Wonderful deeds were done by that little company of brave men, who rode abroad "redressing wrong," who spoke no slander nor would listen to it and who reverenced the King "as their own conscience."

The greatest knight and the most beloved by the King was Lancelot. After the first great battle in which Arthur and Lancelot had fought side by side, they had pledged each other "a deathless love' and Arthur said, "Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death."'

Notes and Questions.

Words and Phrases for Discussion.

FROM

THE PASSING OF ARTHUR

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON.

So all day long the noise of battle roll'd
Among the mountains by the winter sea;
Until King Arthur's Table, man by man,
Had fall'n in Lyonesse about their lord,
King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep,
The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,

And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,

A broken chancel with a broken cross,
That stood on a dark strait of barren land:
10 On one side lay the Ocean, and on one
Lay a great water, and the moon was full.

Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere: "The sequel of to-day unsolders all

The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
15 Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
They sleep-the men I loved. I think that we
Shall never more, at any future time,
Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,
Walking about the gardens and the halls.
20 Of Camelot, as in the days that were.

I perish by this people which I made,
Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again
To rule once more; but, let what will be, be,
I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm
25 That without help I cannot last till morn.
Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,