Page:A Legend of Camelot, Pictures and Poems, etc. George du Maurier, 1898.djvu/33



HE castle weeds have grown so tall

Knights cannot see the red brick wall.

The little drawbridge hangs awry,

The little flowery moat is dry!

And the wind, it soughs and sighs alway

Through the grey willows, night and day!

And evermore two willows there

Do weep, whose boughs are always bare:

At all times weep they, in and out

Of season, turn and turn about!

But later, when the year doth fall,

And other willows, one and all,

In yellowing and dishevelled leaf

Sway haggard with their autumn grief,

Then do these leafless willows now

Put forth a rosebud from each bough!

What time Gauwaine, with spurless heels,

Barefoot (but not bare-headed) kneels

Between! . . . as fits a bigamous knight

Twice widowed in a single night:

And then, for that promiscuous way

Of axing Hebrews in broad day,

He ever uttereth a note

Of Eastern origin remote. . ..

A well-known monochord, that tells

Of one who, wandering, buys and sells!

What time the knights and damsels fair

Of Arthur's court come trooping there,

They come in dresses of dark green,

Two damsels take a knight between:

One sad and sallow knight is fixt

Dyspeptic damsels twain betwixt!

They speak not, but their weary eyes

And wan white eyelids droop and rise

With dim dead gaze of mystic woe!

They always take their pleasure so

In Camelot. . . . It doth not lie

With us to ask, or answer, why!

Yet, seeing them so fair and good,

Fain would we cheer them, if we could!

And every time they find a bud,

They pluck it, and it bleeds red blood.

And when they pluck a full-blown rose,

And breathe the same, its colour goes!

But with Gauwaine alone at night,

The willows dance in their delight!

The rosebuds wriggle in their bliss,

And lift them for his lips to kiss!

And if he kiss a rose instead,

It blushes of a deeper red!

And if he like it, let him be!

It makes no odds to you or me!

O many-headed multitude,

Who read these rhymes that run so rude,

Strive not to fathom their intent!

But say your prayers, and rest content

That, notwithstanding those two cracks

He got from Gauwaine's battle-axe,

The Hebrew had the best of it!

So, Gentles, let us rest a bit. 10