Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
King Arthur
By Bessie Rayner Parkes (18291925)W
He dwelt at Caerleon-upon-Usk;
He held it with an armed right hand,
And drank red wine from dawn till dusk.
In our time no such maidens are:
King Arthur was the first of men,
The fairest dame Queen Guenevar.
None dared dispute its awful spells;
On summer nights the moonlit strand
Was musical with fairy bells.
Made glorious that enchanted spot;
And who was first in every sport,—
Ah, who was loved but Launcelot!
When setting out at morning-tide,—
The silken banners which they bore,
By gentle hands were wrought and dyed.
When they the robber-bands assail;
And whose pure hands shall duty call
To seek and find the holy Grail!
That ride in that mysterious land,
And celebrate your mystic rites
With stainless sword in stainless hand.
Though somewhere in the south of Wales,
The wanderer there, at gathering dusk,
When dreaming o’er these ancient tales,
Will hardly meet such noble men,
Till bards and prophets prove their claims,
And good King Arthur comes again!