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I am thy bride, mine own dear lord!

The same which thou didst know,
That was so loathly, and was wont,
Upon the wild moor to go.

Now gentle Gawaine, choose, quoth she,
And make thy choice with care,
Whether by night, or else by day,
Shall I be foul or fair.

My fair lady! Sir Gawaine said,
I yield me to thy skill,
Because thou art mine own lady,
Thou shalt have all thy will.

Now blessed be thou, sweet Gawaine !
And the day that I thee see,
For as thou seest me at this time,
So shall I ever be.

My father was an aged knight,

And yet it chanced so,

He took to wife a false lady,

Which brought me to this woe.

She witched me, being a fair young maid,

In the green forest to dwell,

And there to abide in loathly shape,

Most like a fiend of hell.

Midst moors and mosses, woods and wilds,

To lead a lonesome life,

Till some young, fair, and courtly knight

Would marry me to his wife.

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Nor fully to gain my own true shape,—
Such was her devilish skill,-

Until he would yield to be ruled by me,
And let me have all my will.

She witched my brother to a carlish boor,
And made him stiff and strong;
And built him a bower on magic ground,
To live by rapine and wrong.

But now the spell is broken through,
And wrong is turned to right;
Henceforth I shall be a true Lady,
And he be a gentle Knight!

[The original contains nine more stanzas, which describe the subsequent congratulations of the monarch and his courtiers].

[blocks in formation]

thy chance is fallen arright

for thou hast gotten one of the fairest maids

I euer saw with my sight

It is my fortune said S Gawaine

for my Vncle Arthurs sake

I am glad as grasse wold be of raine
great joy that I may take

S' Gawaine took the ladye by the one arme
S' Kay tooke her by the other

they led her straight to K. Arthur
as they were brother & brother

K Arthur welcumed them there all
& sae did lady Geneuer his queene
wth all the knights of the round table
most seemly to be seene

K Arthur beheld that ladye faire
that was soe faire & bright
he thanked Christ in trinity

for S Gawaine that gentle knight

Soe did the knights both more and lesse reioiced all that day

for the good chance y' hapened was

to S Gawaine & his ladye gaye

FFINIS.

KING ARTHUR'S DEATH.

THIS Composition, with several others, is taken from the old romance of MORTE D'ARTHUR; but in this, according to Dr. Percy, are several variations, coinciding with the traditions of the ancient Welsh Bards, who believed that this king was not dead, but in some secret and pleasant place, under the care of the fairies, from whence he should at some time return, to resume the sceptre of Britain: a fond and extravagant tradition, which obtained a very general reception, and is mentioned in several of the old Chronicles. "The Bretons supposed that he shall come yet, and conquer all Bretaigne; for certes, this is the prophecy of Merlin. He sayd, that his death shall be douteous; and sayd sooth (i. e. truth), for men thereof yet have doubte, and shullen (shall) for evermore, for men wyl not whether that he lyveth or is dede." An old Chronicle of Gerard de Leew. Antwerp, 1493.-Dr. PERCY.

See also, Don Quixote, Chap. xiii. "Have you not read, sir," answered Don Quixote, "the Annals and Histories of England? wherein are recorded the famous exploits of King Arthur, whom in our Castilian tongue we perpetually call King Artūs, of whom there goes an old tradition, and a common one all over that kingdom of Great Britain, that this king did not die, but that by magic art he was turned into a raven; and that, in process of time, he shall reign again, and recover his kingdom and sceptre: for which reason it cannot be proved, that from that time any Englishman hath killed a raven." Of this story of the raven, wherever Cervantes procured it, no traces are at present discoverable. A similar tradition in the instance of Don Sebastian King of Portugal, is actually believed by some of the Portuguese to the present day. He was missing after the battle fought at Tangiers, 1578, in which he doubtless met with an honorable death; but, as in the case of King Arthur, he was supposed to exist corporeally, in some enchanted retreat, from whence he was to return, in kingly pomp and dignity, to his native realm. King Arthur actually died A.D. 542, after a distinguished reign of twenty-six years.-ED.

ON Trinity-Monday in the morn,

This sore battle was doomed to be,
Where many a knight cried "Well away!"
Alack! it was the more pity.

Ere the first crowing of the cock,

When as the king in his bed lay,
He thought Sir Gawaine to him came,
And there to him these words did say.

Now as you are mine uncle dear,

And as you prize your life this day, O meet not with your foe in fight— Put off the battle, if you may.

For Sir Lancelot is now in France,

And with him many a hardy knigh
Who will within this month be back,
And will assist ye in the fight.

The king then called his nobles all,
Before the breaking of the day,
And told them how Sir Gawaine came,
And there to him these words did say.

His nobles all this counsel gave,

That, early in the morning, he Should send away an herald at arms, To ask a parley fair and free.

Then twelve good knights King Arthur chose, The best of all that with him were,

To parley with the foe in the field,

And make with him agreement fair.

The king he charged all his host,
In readiness there for to be;
But no man should his weapon stir,
Unless a sword drawn they should see.

And Mordred on the other part,

Twelve of his knights did likewise bring,

* Sir Gawaine was lately dead.

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