But at that Christmas feast, in Arthur's hall, With night's soft mantle folded over all, The magic influence of the evening tide Stole on their two hearts beating side by side. And Gawayne talked of troubles long ago, When each man's neighbor was his dearest foe, And of the trials he himself had passed, And the high purpose that from first to last Had been his stay and spur, he scarce knew how, Since on Excalibur he took the vow. He told of his own hopes for future days, And how he wrought and fought not for men's praise, (Though like all good men Gawayne held that dear), Yet trusting, when men laid him on his bier, They might remember, as they gathered round it, "He left this good world better than he found it." He talked as true men seldom talk, unless Swayed utterly by some pure passion's stress, And ever gently, though with heart on fire, Still hovered nearer to his soul's desire. And Elfinhart in gravest silence listened, But her sweet heart beat high, her blue eyes glistened; For as he bared his soul to her she dreamed A day-dream strange and new, wherein it seemed That in that soul's clear depth she saw her own, And his most secret thought (till then unknown) Seemed hers eternally. He spoke of death, And then her heart shrank, and she drew deep breath. Suddenly, ere she understood at all What new life dawned before her, came the call Of fairy horns; and so the Green Knight burst Upon the scene, as told in Canto First. One jarring note, the tuneful chords among, May make mad discord of the sweetest song. E'en so with dissonant clamor through the breast Of Gawayne rang the Green Knight's merry jest; But what wild meaning must it not impart To the vague fears of gentle Elfinhart? For she had heard in the first trumpet-blast A signal to her from the far-gone past; And now, of all the strange things that had been, Her half forgotten compact with the queen Flushed through her memory, and a swift thought came Like sudden fear, a thought without a name, An unvoiced question and a blind alarm; And in sheer helplessness she reached an arm Toward Gawayne scarcely knowing what she would; Her eyes beheld him, and she understood. And is it Gawayne? He? Yes, Elfinhart, The hour has come, and you must play your part. * * * * * So now it's all explained; and I intend To go straight onward to the story's end. Sir Gawayne had cut off the Green Knight's head, And Arthur and his court had gone to bed; In the great hall the dying embers shone With a faint ghostly gleam, and there, alone, While all the rest of Camelot was sleeping, In the dark alcove Elfinhart lay weeping. But as she lay there, all about her head There fell a checkered beam of moonlight, shed Through the barred casement; and she faintly stirred, For in her troubled soul it seemed she heard Vague music from some region far away! She raised her head and, turning where she lay, Saw in the silver moonlight the serene And tranquil beauty of the fairy queen!