Songs and Satires Part 16

His s.h.i.+eld went clattering on the wall To a dolorous wail of wind; His casque was rust, his mantle dust With spider webs entwined.

His listless horses left alone Went cropping where they would, To see the n.o.blest knight of the world Upon his sorrow brood.

Anon a Vision came in his sleep, And thrice the Vision saith: Go thou to Almesbury for thy sin, Where lieth the queen in death.

Sir Launcelot cometh to Almesbury And knelt by the dead queen's bier; Oh none may know, moaned Launcelot, What sorrow lieth here.

What love, what honor, what defeat What hope of the Holy Grail.

The moon looked through the latticed gla.s.s On the queen's face cold and pale.

Sir Launcelot kissed the cered cloth, And none could stay his woe, Her hair lay back from the oval brow, And her nose was clear as snow.

They wrapped her body in cloth of Raines, They put her in webs of lead.

They coffined her in white marble, And sang a ma.s.s for the dead.

Sir Launcelot and seven knights Bore torches around the bier.

They scattered myrrh and frankincense On the corpse of Guinevere.

They put her in earth by King Arthur To the chant of a doleful tune.

They heaped the earth on Guinevere And Launcelot fell in a swoon.

Sir Launcelot went to the hermitage Some Grace of G.o.d to find; But never he ate, and never he drank And there he sickened and dwined.

Sir Launcelot lay in a painful bed, And spake with a dreary steven; Sir Bishop, I pray you shrive my soul And make it clean for heaven.

The Bishop houseled Sir Launcelot, The Bishop kept watch and ward.

Bury me, saith Sir Launcelot, In the earth of Joyous Guard.

Three candles burned the whole night through Till the red dawn looked in the room.

And the white, white soul of Launcelot Strove with a black, black doom.

I see the old witch Dame Brisen, And Elaine so straight and tall-- Nay, saith the Bishop of Canterbury, The shadows dance on the wall.

I see long hands of dead women, They clutch for my soul eftsoon; Nay, saith the Bishop of Canterbury, 'Tis the drifting light of the moon.

I see three angels, saith he, Before a silver urn.

Nay, saith the Bishop of Canterbury, The candles do but burn.

I see a cloth of red samite O'er the holy vessels spread.

Nay, saith the Bishop of Canterbury, The great dawn groweth red.

I see all the torches of the world s.h.i.+ne in the room so clear.

Nay, saith the Bishop of Canterbury, The white dawn draweth near.

Sweet lady, I behold the face Of thy dear son, our Lord, Nay, saith the Bishop of Canterbury, The sun s.h.i.+nes on your sword.

Sir Galahad outstretcheth hands And taketh me ere I fail-- Sir Launcelot's body lay in death As his soul found the Holy Grail.

They laid his body in the quire Upon a purple pall.

He was the meekest, gentlest knight That ever ate in hall.

He was the kingliest, goodliest knight That ever England roved, The truest lover of sinful man That ever woman loved.

I pray you all, fair gentlemen, Pray for his soul and mine.

He lived to lose the heart he loved And drink but bitter wine.

He wrought a woe he knew not of, He failed his fondest quest, Now sing a psalter, read a prayer May all souls find their rest.

Amen.

IN MICHIGAN

You wrote: "Come over to Saugatuck And be with me on the warm sand, And under cool beeches and aromatic cedars."

And just then no one could do a thing in the city For the lure of far places, and something that tugged At one's heart because of a June sky, And stretches of blue water, And a warm wind blowing from the south.

What could I do but take a boat And go to meet you?

And when to-day is not enough, But you must live to-morrow also; And when the present stands in the way Of something to come, And there is but one you would see, All the interval of waiting is a wall.

And so it was I walked the landward deck With flapping coat and hat pulled down; And I sat on the leeward deck and looked At the streaming smoke of the funnels, And the far waste of rhythmical water, And at the gulls flying by our side.

There was music on board and dancing, But I could not take part.

For above all there was the bluest sky, And around us the urge of magical distances.

And just because you were in the violins, And in everything, and were wholly the world Of sense and sight, It was too much. One could not live it And make it all his own-- It was too much.

And I wondered where the rest could be going, Or what they thought of water and sky Without knowing you.

But at four o'clock there was a rim, A circled edge of rainbow color Which suspired, widened and narrowed under your gaze: It was the phantasy of straining eyes, Or land--and it was land.

It was distant trees.

And then it was dunes, bluffs of yellow sand.

We began to wonder how far it was-- Five miles, or ten miles-- Surely only five miles!-- But at last whatever it was we swung to the end.

We rounded the lighthouse pier, Almost before we knew.

We slowed our speed in a dizzy river of black, We drifted softly to dock.

I took the ferry, I crossed the river, I ran almost through the little batch Of fishermen's shacks.

I climbed the winding road of the hill, And dove in a shadowy quiet Of paths of moss and dancing leaves, And straight stretched limbs of giant pines On patches of sky.

I ran to the top of the bluff Where the lodge-house stood.

And there the sunlit lake burst on me And wine-like air.

And below me was the beach Where the serried lines of hurrying water Came up like rank on rank of men And fell with a shout on the rocks!

I plunged, I stumbled, I ran Down the hill, For I thought I saw you, And it was you, you were there!

And I shall never forget your cry, Nor how you raised your arms and cried, And laughed when you saw me.

And there we were with the lake And the sun with his ruddy search-light blaze Stretching back to lost Chicago.

The sun, the lake, the beach, and ourselves Were all that was left of Time, All else was lost.

You were making a camp.

You had bent from the bank a cedar bough And tied it down.

And over it flung a quilt of many colors, And under it spread on the voluptuous silt Gray blankets and canvas pillows.

I saw it all in a glance.