With one great dwelling in the middle of it;

Whither I made, and there was I disarmed

By maidens each as fair as any flower:
But when they led me into hall, behold
The Princess of that castle was the one,
Brother, and that one only, who had ever
Made my heart leap; for when I moved of old
A slender page about her father's hall,
And she a slender maiden, all my heart
Went after her with longing: yet we twain
Had never kiss'd a kiss, or vow'd a vow.
And now I came upon her once again,

And one had wedded her, and he was dead,

And all his land and wealth and state were hers.

And while I tarried, every day she set

A banquet richer than the day before
By me; for all her longing and her will
Was toward me as of old; till one fair morn,

I walking to and fro beside a stream

That flash'd across her orchard underneath

Her castle walls, she stole upon my walk,
And calling me the greatest of all knights,
Embraced me, and so kiss'd me the first time,
And gave herself and all her wealth to me.
Then I remember'd Arthur's warning word,
That most of us would follow wandering fires,
And the quest faded in my heart. Anon,

The heads of all her people drew to me,

With supplication both of knees and tongue.

We have heard of thee: thou art our greatest knight :

Our Lady says it, and we well believe:

Wed thou our Lady, and rule over us,

And thou shalt be as Arthur in our land.'

O me, my brother! but one night my vow
Burnt me within, so that I rose and fled,
But wail'd and wept, and hated mine own self,
And ev'n the Holy Quest, and all but her.
Then after I was join'd with Galahad

Cared not for her, nor anything upon earth."

Then said the monk, "Poor men, when yule is cold,

Must be content to sit by little fires.

And this am I, so that ye care for me

Ever so little; yea, and blest be Heaven

That brought thee here to this poor house of ours,

Where all the brethren are so hard, to warm

My cold heart with a friend: but O the pity
To find thine own first love once more, - to hold,
Hold her a wealthy bride within thine arms,

Or all but hold, and then - cast her aside,
Foregoing all her sweetness, like a weed.
For we that want the warmth of double life,
We that are plagued with dreams of something sweet
Beyond all sweetness in a life so rich, -
Ah, blessed Lord, I speak too earthly-wise,
Seeing I never stray'd beyond the cell,
But live like an old badger in his earth,
With earth about him everywhere, despite
All fast and penance. Saw ye none beside,
None of your knights?"

"Yea so," said Percivale,

"One night my pathway swerving east, I saw

The pelican on the casque of our Sir Bors

All in the middle of the rising moon :

And toward him spurr'd and hail'd him, and he me,

And each made joy of either; then he ask'd,

،

Where is he? hast thou seen him 'Once,'

Said good Sir Bors, 'he dash'd across me - mad,

And maddening what he rode; and when I cried,

"Ridest thou then so hotly on a quest

So holy?" Lancelot shouted, "Stay me not!

I have been the sluggard and I ride apace,

For now there is a lion in the way."

So vanish'd.'

"Then Sir Bors had ridden on

Softly and sorrowing for our Lancelot.

Because his former madness, once the talk

And scandal of our table, had return'd;

For Lancelot's kith and kin adore him so

That ill to him is ill to them; to Bors

Beyond the rest: he well had been content

Not to have seen, so Lancelot might have seen,

The holy cup of healing; and, indeed,
Being so clouded with his grief and love,
Small heart was his after the holy quest :
If God would send the vision, well: if not,
The Quest and he were in the hands of Heaven.

"And then, with small adventure met, Sir Bors Down to the last tongue-tip of Lyonesse rode, And found a people there among their crags, Our race and blood, a remnant that were left Paynim amid their circles, and the stones They pitch up straight to heaven: and their wise men Were strong in that old magic which can trace The wandering of the stars, and scoff'd at him, And this high quest as at a simple thing:

Told him he follow'd - almost Arthur's words