X.

And only one among us

him

We pleased not- he was seldom pleased:

He saw not far: his eyes were dim:

But ours he swore were all diseased. "A ship of fools," he shriek'd in spite, "A ship of fools," he sneer'd and wept.

And overboard one stormy night
He cast his body, and on we swept.

XI.

And never sail of ours was furl'd,

Nor anchor dropt at eve or morn; We lov'd the glories of the world,

But laws of nature were our scorn. For blasts would rise and rave and cease,

But whence were those that drove

the sail

Across the whirlwind's heart of peace, And to and thro' the counter gale?

XII.

Again to colder climes we came,

For still we follow'd where she led Now mate is blind and captain lame,

And half the crew are sick or dead, But, blind or lame or sick or sound,

We follow that which flies before: We know the merry world is round, And we may sail for evermore.

SIR LAUNCELOT AND QUEEN GUINEVERE.

A FRAGMENT.

LIKE souls that balance joy and pain, With tears and smiles from heaven again

The maiden Spring upon the plain
Came in a sun-lit fall of rain.

In crystal vapor everywhere
Blue isles of heaven laugh'd between,
And far, in forest-deeps unseen,
The topmost elm-tree gather'd green
From draughts of balmy air.

129

Sometimes the linnet piped his song: Sometimes the throstle whistled

strong:

Sometimes the sparhawk, wheel'd along,

Hush'd all the groves from fear of wrong:

By grassy capes with fuller sound In curves the yellowing river ran, And drooping chestnut-buds began To spread into the perfect fan,

Above the teeming ground.

Then, in the boyhood of the year,
Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere
Rode thro' the coverts of the deer,
With blissful treble ringing clear.

She seem'd a part of joyous
Spring:

A gown of grass-green silk she wore,
Buckled with golden clasps before;
A light-green tuft of plumes she bore
Closed in a golden ring.

Now on some twisted ivy-net,
Now by some tinkling rivulet,
In mosses mixt with violet
Her cream-white mule his pastern set;
And fleeter now she skimm'd the
plains

Than she whose elfin prancer springs
By night to eery warblings,

When all the glimmering moorland rings

With jingling bridle-reins.

As she fled fast thro' sun and shade, The happy winds upon her play'd, Blowing the ringlet from the braid: She look'd so lovely, as she sway'd

The rein with dainty finger-tips, A man had given all other bliss, And all his wordly worth for this, To waste his whole heart in one kiss Upon her perfect lips.

A FAREWELL. FLOW down, cold rivulet, to the sea, Thy tribute wave deliver: No more by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever.

And then we met in wrath and wrong,
We met, but only meant to part.
Full cold my greeting was and dry;
She faintly smiled, she hardly
moved;

I saw with half-unconscious eye
She wore the colors I approved.

III.

She took the little ivory chest,

With half a sigh she turn'd the key, Then raised her head with lips comprest,

And gave my letters back to me. And gave the trinkets and the rings, My gifts, when gifts of mine could please;

As looks a father on the things

Of his dead son, I look'd on these.

IV.

She told me all her friends had said; I raged against the public liar; She talk'd as if her love were dead,

But in my words were seeds of fire. "No more of love; your sex is known : I never will be twice deceived. Henceforth I trust the man alone. The woman cannot be believed.

V.

"Thro' slander, meanest spawn of Hell

And women's slander is the worst, And you, whom once I lov'd so well, Thro' you, my life will be accurst." I spoke with heart, and heat and force, I shook her breast with vague alarms

Like torrents from a mountain source We rush'd into each other's arms.

VI.

We parted: sweetly gleam'd the stars, And sweet the vapor-braided blue, Low breezes fann'd the belfry bars,

As homeward by the church I drew. The very graves appear'd to smile,

So fresh they rose in shadow'd swells;

“Dark porch,” I said, “and silent aisle,

There comes a sound of marriage bells.

Then methought I heard a mellow sound,

Gathering up from all the lower ground;

Narrowing in to where they sat assembled

Low voluptuous music winding trembled,

Wov'n in circles: they that heard it sigh'd,

Panted hand-in-hand with faces pale, Swung themselves, and in low tones replied;

Till the fountain spouted, showering wide

Sleet of diamond-drift and pearly hail ; Then the music touch'd the gates and died,

Rose again from where it seem'd to fail,

Storm'd in orbs of song, a growing gale;