But first the awe which kings command, restrain'd; 13 And next the ignorance of the path and goal; So, thus for weeks they communed and remain'd; Till o'er the woods a mellower verdure stole; The bell-flower clothed the river-banks; the moon Stood in the breathless firmament of June; When--as one twilight near the forest-mount 14 They sate, and heard the vesper-bell afar Swing from the dim Cathedral, and the fount Hymn low its own sweet music to the star Lone in the west--they saw a shadow pass Where the pale beam shot silvering o'er the grass. They turn'd, beheld their Cymri's mighty seer, 15 Majestic Merlin, and with reverence rose; "Knights," said the soothsayer, smiling, "be of cheer If yet alone (the stars themselves his foes) Wanders the King,--now, of his faithful three One, Fate permits; the choice with Fate must be. "Enter the forest--each his several way; 16 Return as dies in air the vesper chime; The fiend the forest populace obey Hath not o'er mortals empire in the time When holy sounds the wings of Heaven invite, And prayer hangs charm-like on the wheels of Night. "What seen, what heard, mark mindful, and relate! 17 Here will I tarry till your steps return." Ne'er leapt the captive from the prison grate With livelier gladness to the smiles of morn, Than sprang those rivals to the forest-gloom, And its dark arms closed round them like a tomb. Before the fount, with thought-o'ershadow'd brow, 18 The prophet stood, and bent a wistful eye Along its starlit shimmer;--"Ev'n as now," He murmur'd, "didst thou lift thyself on high, O symbol of my soul, and make thy course One upward struggle to thy mountain source-- "When first, a musing boy, I stood beside 19 Thy sparkling showers, and ask'd my restless heart What secrets Nature to the herd denied, But might to earnest hierophant impart; Then, in the boundless space around and o'er, Thought whisper'd--'Rise, O seeker, and explore; "'Can every leaf a teeming world contain, 20 In the least drop can race succeed to race, Yet one death-slumber in its dreamless reign Clasp all the illumed magnificence of space-- Life crowd the drop--from air's vast seas effaced-- The leaf a world--the firmament a waste?'-- "And while Thought whisper'd, from thy shining spring 21 The glorious answer murmur'd--'Soul of Man, Let the fount teach thee, and its struggle bring Truth to thy yearnings!--whither I began, Thither I tend; my law is to aspire: Spirit _thy_ source, be spirit _thy_ desire.'