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"But let me tell thee now another tale :

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For Bleys, our Merlin's master, as they say,
Died but of late, and sent his cry to me,
To hear him speak before he left his life.
Shrunk like a fairy changeling lay the mage,
And, when I enter'd, told me that himself
And Merlin ever served about the king,
Uther, before he died, and on the night
When Uther in Tintagil past away
Moaning and wailing for an heir, the two
Left the still king, and passing forth to breathe,
Then from the castle gateway by the chasm

Descending thro' the dismal night - a night

In which the bounds of heaven and earth were lost

Beheld, so high upon the dreary deeps

It seem'd in heaven - a ship, the shape thereof
A dragon wing'd, and all from stem to stern
Bright with a shining people on the decks,
And gone as soon as seen: and then the two
Dropt to the cove and watch'd the great sea fall,

Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,
Till, last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep
And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged
Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame:
And down the wave and in the flame was borne

A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet,

Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried, 'The King!
Here is an heir for Uther!' and the fringe

Of that great breaker, sweeping up the strand,
Lash'd at the wizard as he spake the word,
And all at once all round him rose in fire,
So that the child and he were clothed in fire.
And presently thereafter follow'd calm,
Free sky and stars: 'And this same child,' he said,
'Is he who reigns; nor could I part in peace
Till this were told.' And saying this the seer
Went thro' the strait and dreadful pass of death,
Not ever to be question'd any more

Save on the further side; but when I met

Merlin, and ask'd him if these things were truth,

The shining dragon and the naked child
Descending in the glory of the seas, -
He laugh'd as is his wont, and answer'd me
In riddling triplets of old time, and said:

""Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in the sky! A young man will be wiser by and by: An old man's wit may wander ere he die. Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow on the lea! And truth is this to me, and that to thee; And truth or clothed or naked let it be. Rain, sun, and rain! and the free blossom blows: Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows? From the great deep to the great deep he goes.'

"So Merlin, riddling, anger'd me; but thou

Fear not to give this king thine only child,
Guinevere: so great bards of him will sing
Hereafter, and dark sayings from of old

Ranging and ringing thro' the minds of men,

And echo'd by old folk beside their fires
For comfort after their wage-work is done,
Speak of the king; and Merlin in our time
Hath spoken also, not in jest, and sworn,
Tho' men may wound him, that he will not die,
But pass, again to come; and then or now

Utterly smite the heathen underfoot,

Till these and all men hail him for their king.”

She spake and King Leodogran rejoiced, But musing "Shall I answer yea or nay?" Doubted and drowsed, nodded and slept, and saw, Dreaming, a slope of land that ever grew, Field after field, up to a height, the peak Haze-hidden, and thereon a phantom king, Now looming, and now lost; and on the slope The sword rose, the hind fell, the herd was driven, Fire glimpsed; and all the land from roof and rick In drifts of smoke before a rolling wind Stream'd to the peak, and mingled with the haze

And made it thicker; while the phantom king

Sent out at times a voice; and here or there

Stood one who pointed toward the voice, the rest

Slew on and burnt, crying, "No king of ours,

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No son of Uther, and no king of ours ;

Till with a wink his dream was changed, the haze

Descended, and the solid earth became

As nothing, and the king stood out in heaven,

Crown'd; and Leodogran awoke, and sent

Ulfius, and Brastias, and Bedivere

Back to the court of Arthur answering yea.

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,
(For then was latter April) and return'd

Among the flowers, in May, with Guinevere.
To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint,

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