Elaine; An Idyl Of The King

ELAINE Elaine the fair, Elaine the loveable, Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat, High in her chamber up a tower to the east Guarded the sacred shield of Lancelot Which first she placedwhere mornings earliest ray Might strike it, and awake herwith the gleam Then fearing rust or soilure fashiond for it A case of silk, and braided thereupon All the devices blazond on the shield In their own tinct, and added, of her wit, A border fantasy ofbranch and flower, And yellow-throated nestling in the nest. Nor rested thus content, but day by day, Leaving her household and good father, climbd That eastern tower, and entering barrd her door, 3 Elaine Stript offthe case, and read the naked shield, Now guessd a hidden meaning in his arms, Now made a pretty history to herself Of every dint a sword had beaten in it, And every scratch a lance had made upon it, Conjecturingwhen and where this cut is fresh That ten years back this dealt him at Caerlyle That at Caerleon this at Camelot And ah Gods mercy, what a stroke was there And here a thrust that might have killd, but God Broke the strong lance, and rolld his enemy down, And saved him so she lived in fantasy. How came the lily maid by that good shield Of Lancelot, she that knew not evn his name He left it with her, when he rode to tilt For the great diamond in the diamond jousts, Which Arthur had ordaind, and by that name Had named them, since a diamond was the prize. 4 Elaine - - - ForArthur when none knew from whence he came, Long ere the people chose him for their King, Roving the trackless realms of Lyonnesse, Had found a glen, gray boulder and black tarn. A horror lived about the tarn, and clave Like its own mists to all the mountain side For heretwo brothers, one a king, had met And fought together but theirnameswere lost And each had slain his brother at a blow And down they fell and made the glen abhorrd And there they lay till all their bones were bleachd, And lichend into colour with the crags And one of these, the king, had on a crown Of diamonds, one in front, and four aside. And Arthur came, and labouring up the pass, All in a misty moonshine, unawares Had trodden that crownd skeleton, and the skull Brake from the nape, and from the skull the crown 5 Elaine - - - Rolld into light, and turning on its rims Fled like a glittering rivulet to the tarn And down the shingly scaur he plunged, and caught, And set it on his head, and in his heart Heard murmurs, Lo, thou likewise shalt be King Thereafter, when a King, he had the gems Pluckd from the crown, and showd them to his knights, Saying, Thesejewels, whereupon I chanced Divinely, are the kingdoms not the Kings For public use henceforward let there be, Once every year, ajoust for one ofthese For so by nine years proof we needs must learn Which is our mightiest, and ourselves shall grow In use ofarms and manhood, till we drive The heathen, who, some say, shall rule the land Hereafter, which God hinder. Thus he spoke 6 Elaine - - - And eight years past, eight jousts had been, and still Had Lancelot won the diamond of the year, With purpose to present them to the Queen, When all were won but meaning all at once To snare her royal fancy with a boon Worth half her realm, had never spoken word. Now for the central diamond and the last And largest, Arthur, holding then his court Hard on the river nigh the place which now Is this worlds hugest, let proclaim ajoust At Camelot, andwhen the time drew nigh Spake for she had been sick to Guinevere, Are you so sick, my Queen, you cannot move To these fair jousts Yea, lord, she said, you know it...