BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
My good blade carves the casques2 of men, My tough lance thrusteth sure,My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure.
The shattering trumpet shrilleth high, The hard brands3 shiver on the steel,The splintered spear shafts crack and fly, The horse and rider reel:
They reel, they roll in clanging lists, And when the tide of combat stands,Perfume and flowers fall in showers, That lightly rain from ladies" hands.
How sweet are looks that ladies bend On whom their favors fall!
For them I battle till the end,
To save from shame and thrall:
1Sir Galahad: a knight of King Arthur"s Round Table, the only one who succeeded in the quest for the Holy Grail.
2Casques: armor for the head and neck.
3Brands: a poetic word for swords, so called from their brightness.
But all my heart is drawn above,
My knees are bowed in crypt and shrine: I never felt the kiss of love,Nor maiden"s hand in mine.
More bounteous aspects on me beam,
Me mightier transports move and thrill; So keep I fair through faith and prayerA virgin heart in work and will.
Sir Galahad
When down the stormy crescent goes, A light before me swims,Between dark stems the forest glows,I hear a noise of hymns:
Then by some secret shrine I ride;
I hear a voice, but none are there;
The stalls1 are void2, the doors are wide, The tapers burning fair.
Fair gleams the snowy altar cloth, The silver vessels sparkle clean,The shrill bell rings, the censer3 swings,And solemn chants resound between.
Sometimes on lonely mountain meres4
I find a magic bark;
I leap on board: no helmsman steers: I float till all is dark.
A gentle sound, an awful light!
Three angels bear the Holy Grail5: With folded feet, in stoles6 of white,On sleeping wings they sail. Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!
My spirit beats her mortal bars,
1 Stalls: seats in the choir of a church for the clergy. 2 Void: empty.
3 Censer: a vessel for perfumes, used in churches for burning incense. 4 Meres: lakes.
5Holy Grail: grail is an old word meaning cup or dish. According to a legend of the Middle Ages, the Holy Grail was the cup or dish used by Christ at the last supper, and could be seen only by a perfectly pure and holy person.
6Stoles: long, loose garments; sometimes, scarfs worn by clergymen.
As down dark tides the glory slides, And starlike mingles with the stars.
When on my goodly charger borne Through dreaming towns I go,The cock crows ere the Christmas morn, The streets are dumb with snow.
The tempest crackles on the leads,
And, ringing, springs from brand and mail; But o"er the dark a glory spreads,And gilds the driving hail.
I leave the plain, I climb the height; No branchy thicket shelter yields;But blessed forms in whistling storms Fly o"er waste fens and windy fields.
A maiden knight- to me is given Such hope, I know not fear;I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven That often meet me here.
I muse on joy that will not cease,
Pure spaces clothed in living beams, Pure lilies of eternal peace,Whose odors haunt my dreams; And, stricken by an angel"s hand,This mortal armor that I wear,This weight and size, this heart and eyes, Are touched, are turned to finest air.
The clouds are broken in the sky, And through the mountain wallsA rolling organ-harmonySwells up, and shakes and falls. Then move the trees, the copses1 nod,Wings flutter, voices hover clear: "O just and faithful knight of God!
Ride on! the prize is near."
So pass I hostel2, hall, and grange;
By bridge and ford, by park and pale, All armed I ride, whate"er betide,Until I find the Holy Grail.
1 Copses: woods of small growth, thickets of brushwood. 2 Hostel: an old word for inn.