“There likewise I beheld Excalibur Before him at his crowning borne, the sword That rose from out the bosom of the lake, And Arthur rowed across and took it—rich With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt, Bewildering heart and eye—the blade so bright That men are blinded by it—on one side, Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world, ‘Take me,’ but turn the blade and ye shall see, And written in the speech ye speak yourself, ‘Cast me away!’ And sad was Arthur’s face Taking it, but old Merlin counselled him, ‘Take thou and strike! the time to cast away Is yet far-off.’ So this great brand the king Took, and by this will beat his foemen down.” Thereat Leodogran rejoiced, but thought To sift his doubtings to the last, and asked, Fixing full eyes of question on her face, “The swallow and the swift are near akin, But thou art closer to this noble prince, Being his own dear sister;” and she said, “Daughter of Gorlois and Ygerne am I;” “And therefore Arthur’s sister?” asked the King. She answered, “These be secret things,” and signed To those two sons to pass, and let them be. And Gawain went, and breaking into song Sprang out, and followed by his flying hair Ran like a colt, and leapt at all he saw: But Modred laid his ear beside the doors, And there half-heard; the same that afterward Struck for the throne, and striking found his doom. And then the Queen made answer, “What know I? For dark my mother was in eyes and hair, And dark in hair and eyes am I; and dark Was Gorlois, yea and dark was Uther too, Wellnigh to blackness; but this King is fair Beyond the race of Britons and of men. Moreover, always in my mind I hear A cry from out the dawning of my life, A mother weeping, and I hear her say, ‘O that ye had some brother, pretty one, To guard thee on the rough ways of the world.’” “Ay,” said the King, “and hear ye such a cry? But when did Arthur chance upon thee first?” “O King!” she cried, “and I will tell thee true: He found me first when yet a little maid: Beaten I had been for a little fault Whereof I was not guilty; and out I ran And flung myself down on a bank of heath, And hated this fair world and all therein, And wept, and wished that I were dead; and he— I know not whether of himself he came, Or brought by Merlin, who, they say, can walk Unseen at pleasure—he was at my side, And spake sweet words, and comforted my heart, And dried my tears, being a child with me. And many a time he came, and evermore As I grew greater grew with me; and sad At times he seemed, and sad with him was I, Stern too at times, and then I loved him not, But sweet again, and then I loved him well. And now of late I see him less and less, But those first days had golden hours for me, For then I surely thought he would be king.