{
 "id": "alfred-lord-tennyson/the-coming-of-arthur",
 "title": "The Coming of Arthur",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Alfred, Lord Tennyson",
 "poet_slug": "alfred-lord-tennyson",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Idylls of the King",
 "book_slug": "idylls-of-the-king",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 2,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1885,
  "venue": "Idylls of the King (1885)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/idyllsofking00tenn",
   "https://github.com/standardebooks/alfred-lord-tennyson_idylls-of-the-king",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/610"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/alfred-lord-tennyson_idylls-of-the-king",
  "file": "the-coming-of-arthur.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/610",
   "https://archive.org/details/idyllsofking00tenn",
   "https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/101901267"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 519,
  "n_stanzas": 41,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 55,
  "max_indent": 0
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 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "Leodogran, the King of Cameliard,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Had one fair daughter, and none other child;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And she was the fairest of all flesh on earth,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Guinevere, and in her his one delight.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "For many a petty king ere Arthur came",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ruled in this isle, and ever waging war",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Each upon other, wasted all the land;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And still from time to time the heathen host",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Swarmed overseas, and harried what was left.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And so there grew great tracts of wilderness,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wherein the beast was ever more and more,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But man was less and less, till Arthur came.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For first Aurelius lived and fought and died,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And after him King Uther fought and died,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But either failed to make the kingdom one.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And after these King Arthur for a space,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And through the puissance of his Table Round,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Drew all their petty princedoms under him,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Their king and head, and made a realm, and reigned.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And thus the land of Cameliard was waste,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thick with wet woods, and many a beast therein,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And none or few to scare or chase the beast;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So that wild dog, and wolf and boar and bear",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Came night and day, and rooted in the fields,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And wallowed in the gardens of the King.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And ever and anon the wolf would steal",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The children and devour, but now and then,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Her own brood lost or dead, lent her fierce teat",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To human sucklings; and the children, housed",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In her foul den, there at their meat would growl,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And mock their foster mother on four feet,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till, straightened, they grew up to wolf-like men,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Worse than the wolves. And King Leodogran",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Groaned for the Roman legions here again,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Caesar’s eagle: then his brother king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Urien, assailed him: last a heathen horde,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Reddening the sun with smoke and earth with blood,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And on the spike that split the mother’s heart",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Spitting the child, brake on him, till, amazed,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He knew not whither he should turn for aid.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "But⁠—for he heard of Arthur newly crowned,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Though not without an uproar made by those",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who cried, “He is not Uther’s son”⁠—the King",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sent to him, saying, “Arise, and help us thou!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For here between the man and beast we die.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And Arthur yet had done no deed of arms,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But heard the call, and came: and Guinevere",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Stood by the castle walls to watch him pass;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But since he neither wore on helm or shield",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The golden symbol of his kinglihood,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But rode a simple knight among his knights,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And many of these in richer arms than he,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "She saw him not, or marked not, if she saw,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "One among many, though his face was bare.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But Arthur, looking downward as he past,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Felt the light of her eyes into his life",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Smite on the sudden, yet rode on, and pitched",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "His tents beside the forest. Then he drave",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The heathen; after, slew the beast, and felled",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The forest, letting in the sun, and made",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Broad pathways for the hunter and the knight",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And so returned.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "For while he lingered there,",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "A doubt that ever smouldered in the hearts",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "Of those great Lords and Barons of his realm",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "Flashed forth and into war: for most of these,",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "Colleaguing with a score of petty kings,",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "Made head against him, crying, “Who is he",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "That he should rule us? who hath proven him",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "King Uther’s son? for lo! we look at him,",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "And find nor face nor bearing, limbs nor voice,",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "Are like to those of Uther whom we knew.",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "This is the son of Gorlois, not the King;",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   },
   {
    "text": "This is the son of Anton, not the King.”",
    "indent": 0,
    "align": "right"
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And Arthur, passing thence to battle, felt",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Travail, and throes and agonies of the life,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Desiring to be joined with Guinevere;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And thinking as he rode, “Her father said",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That there between the man and beast they die.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Shall I not lift her from this land of beasts",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Up to my throne, and side by side with me?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "What happiness to reign a lonely king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Vext⁠—O ye stars that shudder over me,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "O earth that soundest hollow under me,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Vext with waste dreams? for saving I be joined",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To her that is the fairest under heaven,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I seem as nothing in the mighty world,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And cannot will my will, nor work my work",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wholly, nor make myself in mine own realm",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Victor and lord. But were I joined with her,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then might we live together as one life,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And reigning with one will in everything",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Have power on this dark land to lighten it,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And power on this dead world to make it live.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thereafter⁠—as he speaks who tells the tale⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "When Arthur reached a field-of-battle bright",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With pitched pavilions of his foe, the world",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Was all so clear about him, that he saw",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The smallest rock far on the faintest hill,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And even in high day the morning star.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So when the King had set his banner broad,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "At once from either side, with trumpet-blast,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And shouts, and clarions shrilling unto blood,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The long-lanced battle let their horses run.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And now the Barons and the kings prevailed,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And now the King, as here and there that war",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Went swaying; but the Powers who walk the world",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Made lightnings and great thunders over him,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And dazed all eyes, till Arthur by main might,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And mightier of his hands with every blow,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And leading all his knighthood threw the kings",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Carados, Urien, Cradlemont of Wales,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Claudias, and Clariance of Northumberland,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The King Brandagoras of Latangor,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With Anguisant of Erin, Morganore,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Lot of Orkney. Then, before a voice",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "As dreadful as the shout of one who sees",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To one who sins, and deems himself alone",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And all the world asleep, they swerved and brake",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Flying, and Arthur called to stay the brands",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That hacked among the flyers, “Ho! they yield!”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So like a painted battle the war stood",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Silenced, the living quiet as the dead,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And in the heart of Arthur joy was lord.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He laughed upon his warrior whom he loved",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And honoured most. “Thou dost not doubt me King,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So well thine arm hath wrought for me today.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Sir and my liege,” he cried, “the fire of God",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Descends upon thee in the battle-field:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I know thee for my King!” Whereat the two,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For each had warded either in the fight,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sware on the field of death a deathless love.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Arthur said, “Man’s word is God in man:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then quickly from the foughten field he sent",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "His new-made knights, to King Leodogran,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Saying, “If I in aught have served thee well,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Give me thy daughter Guinevere to wife.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Whom when he heard, Leodogran in heart",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Debating⁠—“How should I that am a king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "However much he holp me at my need,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Give my one daughter saving to a king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And a king’s son?”⁠—lifted his voice, and called",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A hoary man, his chamberlain, to whom",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He trusted all things, and of him required",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "His counsel: “Knowest thou aught of Arthur’s birth?”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then spake the hoary chamberlain and said,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Sir King, there be but two old men that know:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And each is twice as old as I; and one",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Is Merlin, the wise man that ever served",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "King Uther through his magic art; and one",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Is Merlin’s master (so they call him) Bleys,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who taught him magic, but the scholar ran",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Before the master, and so far, that Bleys,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Laid magic by, and sat him down, and wrote",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All things and whatsoever Merlin did",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In one great annal-book, where after-years",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Will learn the secret of our Arthur’s birth.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "To whom the King Leodogran replied,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“O friend, had I been holpen half as well",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "By this King Arthur as by thee today,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then beast and man had had their share of me:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But summon here before us yet once more",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then, when they came before him, the King said,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“I have seen the cuckoo chased by lesser fowl,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And reason in the chase: but wherefore now",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Do these your lords stir up the heat of war,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Some calling Arthur born of Gorlois,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Others of Anton? Tell me, ye yourselves,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hold ye this Arthur for King Uther’s son?”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And Ulfius and Brastias answered, “Ay.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then Bedivere, the first of all his knights",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Knighted by Arthur at his crowning, spake⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For bold in heart and act and word was he,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whenever slander breathed against the King⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Sir, there be many rumours on this head:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For there be those who hate him in their hearts,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Call him baseborn, and since his ways are sweet,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And theirs are bestial, hold him less than man:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there be those who deem him more than man,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And dream he dropt from heaven: but my belief",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In all this matter⁠—so ye care to learn⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sir, for ye know that in King Uther’s time",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The prince and warrior Gorlois, he that held",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Tintagil castle by the Cornish sea,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Was wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And daughters had she borne him⁠—one whereof,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Lot’s wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hath ever like a loyal sister cleaved",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To Arthur⁠—but a son she had not borne.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Uther cast upon her eyes of love:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But she, a stainless wife to Gorlois,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So loathed the bright dishonour of his love,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That Gorlois and King Uther went to war:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And overthrown was Gorlois and slain.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then Uther in his wrath and heat besieged",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ygerne within Tintagil, where her men,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Seeing the mighty swarm about their walls,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Left her and fled, and Uther entered in,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there was none to call to but himself.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So, compassed by the power of the King,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Enforced was she to wed him in her tears,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And with a shameful swiftness: afterward,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Not many moons, King Uther died himself,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Moaning and wailing for an heir to rule",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "After him, lest the realm should go to wrack.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And that same night, the night of the new year,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "By reason of the bitterness and grief",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That vext his mother, all before his time",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Was Arthur born, and all as soon as born",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Delivered at a secret postern-gate",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To Merlin, to be holden far apart",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Until his hour should come; because the lords",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of that fierce day were as the lords of this,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wild beasts, and surely would have torn the child",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Piecemeal among them, had they known; for each",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But sought to rule for his own self and hand,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And many hated Uther for the sake",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of Gorlois. Wherefore Merlin took the child,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And gave him to Sir Anton, an old knight",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And ancient friend of Uther; and his wife",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Nursed the young prince, and reared him with her own;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And no man knew. And ever since the lords",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Have foughten like wild beasts among themselves,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So that the realm has gone to wrack: but now,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "This year, when Merlin (for his hour had come)",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Brought Arthur forth, and set him in the hall,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Proclaiming, ‘Here is Uther’s heir, your king,’",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A hundred voices cried, ‘Away with him!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "No king of ours! a son of Gorlois he,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Or else the child of Anton, and no king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Or else baseborn.’ Yet Merlin through his craft,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And while the people clamoured for a king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Had Arthur crowned; but after, the great lords",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Banded, and so brake out in open war.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then while the King debated with himself",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "If Arthur were the child of shamefulness,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Or born the son of Gorlois, after death,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Or Uther’s son, and born before his time,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Or whether there were truth in anything",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Said by these three, there came to Cameliard,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With Gawain and young Modred, her two sons,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Lot’s wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whom as he could, not as he would, the King",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Made feast for, saying, as they sat at meat,",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ye come from Arthur’s court. Victor his men",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Report him! Yea, but ye⁠—think ye this king⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So many those that hate him, and so strong,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So few his knights, however brave they be⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hath body enow to hold his foemen down?”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“O King,” she cried, “and I will tell thee: few,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Few, but all brave, all of one mind with him;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For I was near him when the savage yells",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of Uther’s peerage died, and Arthur sat",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Crowned on the dais, and his warriors cried,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "‘Be thou the king, and we will work thy will",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who love thee.’ Then the King in low deep tones,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And simple words of great authority,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bound them by so strait vows to his own self,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That when they rose, knighted from kneeling, some",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Were pale as at the passing of a ghost,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Some flushed, and others dazed, as one who wakes",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Half-blinded at the coming of a light.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“But when he spake and cheered his Table Round",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With large, divine, and comfortable words,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Beyond my tongue to tell thee⁠—I beheld",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "From eye to eye through all their Order flash",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A momentary likeness of the King:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And ere it left their faces, through the cross",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And those around it and the Crucified,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Down from the casement over Arthur, smote",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Flame-colour, vert and azure, in three rays,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "One falling upon each of three fair queens,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who stood in silence near his throne, the friends",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of Arthur, gazing on him, tall, with bright",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sweet faces, who will help him at his need.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“And there I saw mage Merlin, whose vast wit",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And hundred winters are but as the hands",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of loyal vassals toiling for their liege.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“And near him stood the Lady of the Lake,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who knows a subtler magic than his own⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whereby to drive the heathen out: a mist",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of incense curled about her, and her face",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wellnigh was hidden in the minster gloom;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But there was heard among the holy hymns",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A voice as of the waters, for she dwells",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Down in a deep; calm, whatsoever storms",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "May shake the world, and when the surface rolls,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“There likewise I beheld Excalibur",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Before him at his crowning borne, the sword",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That rose from out the bosom of the lake,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Arthur rowed across and took it⁠—rich",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bewildering heart and eye⁠—the blade so bright",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That men are blinded by it⁠—on one side,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "‘Take me,’ but turn the blade and ye shall see,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And written in the speech ye speak yourself,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "‘Cast me away!’ And sad was Arthur’s face",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Taking it, but old Merlin counselled him,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "‘Take thou and strike! the time to cast away",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Is yet far-off.’ So this great brand the king",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Took, and by this will beat his foemen down.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thereat Leodogran rejoiced, but thought",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To sift his doubtings to the last, and asked,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fixing full eyes of question on her face,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“The swallow and the swift are near akin,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But thou art closer to this noble prince,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Being his own dear sister;” and she said,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Daughter of Gorlois and Ygerne am I;”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“And therefore Arthur’s sister?” asked the King.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "She answered, “These be secret things,” and signed",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To those two sons to pass, and let them be.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Gawain went, and breaking into song",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sprang out, and followed by his flying hair",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ran like a colt, and leapt at all he saw:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But Modred laid his ear beside the doors,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And there half-heard; the same that afterward",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Struck for the throne, and striking found his doom.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And then the Queen made answer, “What know I?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For dark my mother was in eyes and hair,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And dark in hair and eyes am I; and dark",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Was Gorlois, yea and dark was Uther too,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wellnigh to blackness; but this King is fair",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Beyond the race of Britons and of men.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Moreover, always in my mind I hear",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A cry from out the dawning of my life,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A mother weeping, and I hear her say,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "‘O that ye had some brother, pretty one,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To guard thee on the rough ways of the world.’ ”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Ay,” said the King, “and hear ye such a cry?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But when did Arthur chance upon thee first?”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“O King!” she cried, “and I will tell thee true:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He found me first when yet a little maid:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Beaten I had been for a little fault",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Whereof I was not guilty; and out I ran",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And flung myself down on a bank of heath,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And hated this fair world and all therein,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And wept, and wished that I were dead; and he⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I know not whether of himself he came,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Or brought by Merlin, who, they say, can walk",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Unseen at pleasure⁠—he was at my side,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And spake sweet words, and comforted my heart,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And dried my tears, being a child with me.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And many a time he came, and evermore",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "As I grew greater grew with me; and sad",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "At times he seemed, and sad with him was I,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Stern too at times, and then I loved him not,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But sweet again, and then I loved him well.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And now of late I see him less and less,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But those first days had golden hours for me,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For then I surely thought he would be king.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“But let me tell thee now another tale:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For Bleys, our Merlin’s master, as they say,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Died but of late, and sent his cry to me,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To hear him speak before he left his life.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Shrunk like a fairy changeling lay the mage;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And when I entered told me that himself",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Merlin ever served about the King,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Uther, before he died; and on the night",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "When Uther in Tintagil past away",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Moaning and wailing for an heir, the two",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Left the still King, and passing forth to breathe,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then from the castle gateway by the chasm",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Descending through the dismal night⁠—a night",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In which the bounds of heaven and earth were lost⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Beheld, so high upon the dreary deeps",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "It seemed in heaven, a ship, the shape thereof",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A dragon winged, and all from stern to stern",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bright with a shining people on the decks,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And gone as soon as seen. And then the two",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Dropt to the cove, and watched the great sea fall,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And down the wave and in the flame was borne",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A naked babe, and rode to Merlin’s feet,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried ‘The King!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Here is an heir for Uther!’ And the fringe",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of that great breaker, sweeping up the strand,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Lashed at the wizard as he spake the word,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And all at once all round him rose in fire,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So that the child and he were clothed in fire.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And presently thereafter followed calm,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Free sky and stars: ‘And this the same child,’ he said,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "‘Is he who reigns; nor could I part in peace",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till this were told.’ And saying this the seer",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Went through the strait and dreadful pass of death,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Not ever to be questioned any more",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Save on the further side; but when I met",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Merlin, and asked him if these things were truth⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The shining dragon and the naked child",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Descending in the glory of the seas⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He laughed as is his wont, and answered me",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In riddling triplets of old time, and said:",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“ ‘Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in the sky!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A young man will be wiser by and by;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "An old man’s wit may wander ere he die.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow on the lea!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And truth is this to me, and that to thee;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And truth or clothed or naked let it be.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rain, sun, and rain! and the free blossom blows:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "From the great deep to the great deep he goes.’",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“So Merlin riddling angered me; but thou",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fear not to give this King thy only child,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Guinevere: so great bards of him will sing",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hereafter; and dark sayings from of old",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ranging and ringing through the minds of men,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And echoed by old folk beside their fires",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For comfort after their wage-work is done,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Speak of the King; and Merlin in our time",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hath spoken also, not in jest, and sworn",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Though men may wound him that he will not die,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But pass, again to come; and then or now",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Utterly smite the heathen underfoot,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till these and all men hail him for their king.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "She spake and King Leodogran rejoiced,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But musing, “Shall I answer yea or nay?”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Doubted, and drowsed, nodded and slept, and saw,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Dreaming, a slope of land that ever grew,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Field after field, up to a height, the peak",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Haze-hidden, and thereon a phantom king,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Now looming, and now lost; and on the slope",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The sword rose, the hind fell, the herd was driven,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fire glimpsed; and all the land from roof and rick,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In drifts of smoke before a rolling wind,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Streamed to the peak, and mingled with the haze",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And made it thicker; while the phantom king",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sent out at times a voice; and here or there",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Stood one who pointed toward the voice, the rest",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Slew on and burnt, crying, “No king of ours,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "No son of Uther, and no king of ours;”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Till with a wink his dream was changed, the haze",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Descended, and the solid earth became",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "As nothing, but the King stood out in heaven,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Crowned. And Leodogran awoke, and sent",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Ulfius, and Brastias and Bedivere,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Back to the court of Arthur answering yea.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then Arthur charged his warrior whom he loved",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And honoured most, Sir Lancelot, to ride forth",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And bring the Queen;⁠—and watched him from the gates:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Lancelot past away among the flowers,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "(For then was latter April) and returned",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Among the flowers, in May, with Guinevere.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Chief of the church in Britain, and before",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the King",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That morn was married, while in stainless white,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The fair beginners of a nobler time,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And glorying in their vows and him, his knights",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Stood around him, and rejoicing in his joy.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Far shone the fields of May through open door,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The sacred altar blossomed white with May,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The Sun of May descended on their King,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They gazed on all earth’s beauty in their Queen,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Rolled incense, and there past along the hymns",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A voice as of the waters, while the two",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sware at the shrine of Christ a deathless love:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Arthur said, “Behold, thy doom is mine.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Let chance what will, I love thee to the death!”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To whom the Queen replied with drooping eyes,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“King and my lord, I love thee to the death!”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And holy Dubric spread his hands and spake,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And all this Order of thy Table Round",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fulfil the boundless purpose of their King!”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So Dubric said; but when they left the shrine",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Great Lords from Rome before the portal stood,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In scornful stillness gazing as they past;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Then while they paced a city all on fire",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "With sun and cloth of gold, the trumpets blew,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And Arthur’s knighthood sang before the King:⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Blow, trumpet, for the world is white with May;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Blow trumpet, the long night hath rolled away!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Blow through the living world⁠—‘Let the King reign.’",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Shall Rome or Heathen rule in Arthur’s realm?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Flash brand and lance, fall battleaxe upon helm,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fall battleaxe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Strike for the King and live! his knights have heard",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "That God hath told the King a secret word.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fall battleaxe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Blow trumpet! he will lift us from the dust.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Blow trumpet! live the strength and die the lust!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Clang battleaxe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Strike for the King and die! and if thou diest,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The King is King, and ever wills the highest.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Clang battleaxe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“Blow, for our Sun is mighty in his May!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Blow, for our Sun is mightier day by day!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Clang battleaxe, and clash brand! Let the King reign.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "“The King will follow Christ, and we the King",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In whom high God hath breathed a secret thing.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fall battleaxe, and flash brand! Let the King reign.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So sang the knighthood, moving to their hall.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "There at the banquet those great Lords from Rome,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The slowly-fading mistress of the world,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Strode in, and claimed their tribute as of yore.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But Arthur spake, “Behold, for these have sworn",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To wage my wars, and worship me their King;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The old order changeth, yielding place to new;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And we that fight for our fair father Christ,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Seeing that ye be grown too weak and old",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To drive the heathen from your Roman wall,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "No tribute will we pay:” so those great lords",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Drew back in wrath, and Arthur strove with Rome.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And Arthur and his knighthood for a space",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Were all one will, and through that strength the King",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Drew in the petty princedoms under him,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fought, and in twelve great battles overcame",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The heathen hordes, and made a realm and reigned.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ]
 ]
}