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From Teivi, fring'd with umbrage brown,
From Elvy's vale, and Cader's crown,

From many a shaggy precipice

That shades Ierne's hoarse abyss,
And many a sunless solitude

Of Radnor's inmost mountains rude,)
To crown the banquet's solemn close,
Themes of British glory chose;
And to the strings of various chime
Attemper'd thus the fabling rhyme.
"O'er Cornwall's cliffs the tempest roar'd,
"High the screaming sea-mew soar'd;
"On Tintaggel's topmost tower
"Darksome fell the sleety shower;
"Round the rough castle shrilly sung
"The whirling blast, and wildly flung
"On each tall rampart's thundering side
"The surges of the tumbling tide:

"When Arthur rang'd his red-cross ranks
"On Conscious Camlan's crimson'd banks:
"By Mordred's faithless guile decreed
"Beneath a Saxon spear to bleed!
"Yet in vain a paynim foe

"Arm'd with fate the mighty blow;

"For when he fell, an elfin queen,

"All in secret, and unseen,

"O'er the fainting hero threw
"Her mantle of ambrosial blue;
"And bade her spirits bear him far,
"In Merlin's agate-axled car,

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"To her green isle's enamel'd steep,
"Far in the navel of the deep.
"O'er his wounds she sprinkled dew
"From flowers that in Arabia grew :
"On a rich enchanted bed,

"She pillow'd his majestic head;
"O'er his brow, with whispers bland,
"Thrice she wav'd an opiate wand;
"And to soft music's airy sound,
"Her magic curtains clos'd around.
"There, renew'd the vital spring,
"Again he reigns a mighty king;
"And many a fair and fragrant clime,
"Blooming in immortal prime,

"By gales of Eden ever fann'd,
"Owns the monarch's high command:
"Thence to Britain shall return,

"(If right prophetic rolls I learn)
"Borne on Victory's spreading plume,
"His antient sceptre to resume;
"Once more in old heroic pride,
"His barbed courser to bestride;

"His knightly table to restore,

"And the brave tournaments of yore."

They ceas'd: when on the tuneful stage Advanc'd a bard, of aspect sage; His silver tresses, thin besprent, To age a graceful reverence lent ; His beard, all white as spangles frore That clothe Plinlimmon's forests hoar,

Down to his harp descending flow'd;

With Time's faint rose his features glow'd; His eyes diffus'd a soften'd fire,

And thus he wak'd the warbling wire:

"Listen, Henry, to my read! "Not from fairy realms I lead "Bright-rob'd Tradition, to relate "In forged colours Arthur's fate; "Though much of old romantic lore "On the high theme I keep in store : "But boastful Fiction should be dumb, "Where Truth the strain might best become. "If thine ear may still be won

"With songs of Uther's glorious son; "Henry, I a tale unfold,

"Never yet in rhyme enroll'd,

"Nor sung nor harp'd in hall or bower; "Which in my youth's full early flower, "A minstrel, sprung of Cornish line, "Who spoke of kings from old Locrine, "Taught me to chant, one vernal dawn, “ Deep in a cliff-encircled lawn, "What time the glistening vapours fled "From cloud-envelop'd Clyder's head; "And on its sides the torrents grey "Shone to the morning's orient ray. "When Arthur bow'd his haughty crest, "No princess, veil'd in azure vest, "Snatcht him, by Merlin's potent spell, "In groves of golden bliss to dwell;

"Where, crown'd with wreaths of misletoe,

"Slaughter'd kings in glory go:

"But when he fell, with winged speed,

"His champions, on a milk-white steed,
"From the battle's hurricane,

"Bore him to Joseph's towered fane,
"In the fair vale of Avalon :
"There, with chanted orison,
"And the long blaze of tapers clear,
"The stoled fathers met the bier ;
"Through the dim iles, in order dread
"Of martial woe, the chief they led,
"And deep intomb'd in holy ground,
"Before the altar's solemn bound.
"Around no dusky banners wave,

"No mouldering trophies mark the grave :
"Away the Ruthless Dane has torn

"Each trace that Time's slow touch had worn; "And long, o'er the neglected stone,

"Oblivion's veil its shade has thrown:

"The faded tomb, with honour due,

"'Tis thine, O Henry, to renew!
"Thither, when Conquest has restor❜d

"Yon recreant isle, and sheath'd the sword,

"When peace with palm has crown'd thy brows,

"Haste thee, to pay thy pilgrim vows.

"There, observant of my lore,

"The pavement's hallow'd depth explore;

"And thrice a fathom underneath

"Dive into the vaults of death.

"There shall thine eye, with wild amaze, "On his gigantic stature gaze;

"There shalt thou find the monarch laid, "All in warrior-weeds array'd; "Wearing in death his helmet-crown, "And weapons huge of old renown. "Martial prince, 'tis thine to save "From dark oblivion Arthur's grave! "So may thy ships securely stem "The western frith: thy diadem "Shine victorious in the van,

"Nor heed the slings of Ulster's clan :
"Thy Norman pike-men win their way
"Up the dun rocks of Harold's bay :
"And from the steeps of rough Kildare
"Thy prancing hoofs the falcon scare :
"So may thy brow's unerring yew
"Its shafts in Roderick's heart imbrew."
Amid the peeling symphony

The spiced goblets mantled high;
With passions new the song impress'd
The listening king's impatient breast:
Flash the keen lightnings from his eyes;
He scorns awhile his bold emprise ;
Ev'n now he seems, with eager pace,
The consecrated floor to trace ;

And
ope, from its tremendous gloom,
The treasure of the wondrous tomb :
Ev'n now, he burns in thought to rear,
From its dark bed, the ponderous spear,

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